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iiiiniiiii 

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LIBRARY 


University  of  California, 


OIF'T   OK 


Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALS WORTH 

Received  October,  18Q4. 
Accessions  No.S^^1^2^'      Class  No. 


■^'^  or  T!- 


li,r;^?-(7y  AH.B-itchij^.N.Y. 


En/rrrJ  wr.nfwf  f^  Art  .-/V-W/Kr.j-//?  f/>^  yearM^^by  BMbr^t,  f^uter.  in  th^  Oerks 
Cmr,'.  o/'  f/w^nutn:rf,  O-uj-l.  Ibr  Utji.  Snuthern  Dufrict of  NeivYcr/c. 


LECTURES 


ON  THE 


LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL. 


STEPHEN  H.  TYNG,  D.D., 

M 

RECTOR    OF    ST.    GEORGE's    CHURCH,    NEW    YORK. 


SIXTH    THOUSAND. 


NEW   YORK: 
ROBERT    CARTER,    58    CANAL    STREET 


1848. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1848,  by 

STEPHEN    H.    TYNG,   D.D. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 

Southern  District  of  New  York. 


INTRODUCTION 


.  The  importance  and  usefulness  of  the  present  work  have 
grown  upon  the  author's  observation,  vastly  beyond  any 
expectations  he  had  dared  to  form.  In  the  personal  expe- 
rience of  the  work  of  divine  grace  through  which  he  was 
led,  and  in  the  habitual  observations  of  others  which  oc- 
curred in  his  pastoral  ministry,  he  was  deeply  convinced, 
that  an  ignorance  of  the  real  condition  of  man  under  a 
violated  law — and  of  the  fulness  and  completeness  of  his 
redemption  through  the  Son  of  God,  the  fulfiller  of  the  law 
for  him,  revealed  in  the  Gospel — was  the  cause  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  spiritual  darkness  under  which  many  Chris- 
tians mourned,  and  the  fountain  of  most  of  the  errors  in 
doctrine,  by  which  the  minds  of  professing  Christians  were 
perverted.  For  a  clearing  and  settling  of  his  own  mind 
upon  this  vastly  important  subject,  he  was  much  indebted 
as  to  many  other  writers  of  excellence,  so  particularly  to 
the  lectures  of  Mr.  Simeon  before  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, which  have  since  been  published  in  his  complete 
works.  But  while  he  was  enabled  to  gather  portions  and 
degrees  of  light  from  various  sources,  there  was  no  work 
within  his  knowledge  which  laid  down  the  system  of  divine 
truth  as  a  whole,  which  he  was  led  to  adopt,  to  which  he 
could  direct  inquirers  for  adequate  instruction  upon  this 
subject.  In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1831,  he  delivered  a 
course  of  lectures  upon  the  Law  and  the  Gospel,  to  the 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

congregation  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Philadelphia,  of  which 
he  was  at  that  time  the  Rector.  The  Editor  of  a  collec- 
tion of  works  called  the  Christian  Library,  subsequently- 
requested  them  for  publication,  in  the  series  of  volumes 
which*  he  was  preparing  for  the  press.  Thus  they  were 
first  printed  in  the  year  1833.  In  the  same  year  a  second 
edition  of  them  was  printed  in  a  separate  volume.  In  a 
subsequent  year,  another  large  edition,  with  several  addi- 
tional lectures,  was  published.  These  were  all  circulated 
and  sold  with  a  rapidity  which  was  wholly  unexpected. 
Above  five  thousand  copies  have  thus  been  sent  upon  their 
humble  but  blessed  errand  of  mercy.  God  has  been  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  make  them  useful  and  effectual  to  the 
awakening  and  instruction  of  his  people,  to  an  extent 
which  has  both  astonished  and  humbled  the  writer.  Many 
precious  instances  of  conversion,  by  the  divine  blessing 
upon  their  instructions,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  have  been  brought  to  his  knowledge  ;  for  all  of 
which  he  desires  from  his  inmost  soul,  to  give  the  praise 
and  glory  to  the  God  of  all  grace.  Some  of  these  have 
been  of  persons  who  are  now  preaching  the  blessed  truths 
which  God  was  pleased  thus  to  reveal  to  them  from  his 
holy  word.  Some  faithful  Christian  friends  have  so  prized 
the  work,  that  they  have  habitually  kept  a  number  of 
copies  on  hand,  to  lend  to  others,  to  whom  they  trusted, 
they  might  be  made  useful.  May  God  abundantly  reward 
them  with  his  blessing  for  this  encouraging  labour  of  love  ! 
The  author  has  repeatedly  revised  his  Lectures,  and  now 
again  sends  them  out  in  a  new  edition  with  an  improved 
form  and  appearance,  feeling  deeply  humbled  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  their  unworthiness  of  the  great  subject,  and 
a  reverence  for  the  glorious  and  blessed  truths  which  he 
has  endeavoured  in  them  to  proclaim.  He  believes  this 
book,  however  infirm  and  weak,  to  contain  the  Glorious 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

Gospel  of  the  Blessed  God,  stated  in  simplicity  and  clear- 
ness, in  perfect  accordance  with  the  instructions  of  the 
Holy  Scripture,  and  the  Liturgy,  Articles,  and  Homilies 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  He  humbly  trusts 
that  the  Glorious  Jesus  whom  he  worships  as  his  Lord 
and  his  God, — his  Great  God  and  Saviour, — will  be 
still  pleased  to  use  this  work  for  the  manifestation  of  his 
glory,  the  bringing  of  the  vessels  of  his  mercy  to  an 
acknowledgment  and  obedience  of  the  truth,  and  the 
guarding  of  his  Church  against  the  vital  and  dangerous 
errors  which  these  days  have  again  brought  forth,  all  of 
which,  the  author  believes,  originate  in  an  ignorance,  or 
in  confused  views,  of  the  relations  of  the  Law  and  the 
Gospel  to  each  other  and  to  man.  He  has  also  in  prepa- 
ration, should  his  life  be  spared  for  their  publication,  two 
other  works  in  connection  with  this  ;  the  one  under  the 
title  of  •*  Christ  is  all,"  displaying  these  precious  truths  in 
the  actual  experience  of  man, — and  the  other  under  the 
title  of  "  The  good  Confession,"  exhibiting  the  outward 
manifestation  of  their  influence  and  operation  in  the  Chris- 
tian life.  He  humbly  hopes,  and  for  this  end,  begs  the 
prayers  of  Christian  friends,  that  the  Glorious  King  of 
Zion  will  graciously  accept  his  efforts  in  these  books  to 
proclaim  the  truth,  to  the  promotion  of  his  own  glory,  and 
the  edifying  of  his  Church.  And  committing  his  labours 
to  Him,  he  would  adore  and  glorify  God,  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  one  Almighty,  Gracious  God, 
with  thanksgivings  and  praise,  for  evermore.     Amen. 

S.  H.  T. 

St.  George's,  New  York, 
January,  1848. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURES  ON  THE  LAW. 

Page 
Lecture  I. — The  importance  of  an  accurate  knowledge  of 

the  Divine  Law, 9 

Lect.  IL — The  practical  influence  of  a  knowledge  of  the 

Law, 24 

Lect.  III. — The  Spirituality  of  the  Law,  -         -         -     40 

Lect.  IV, — The  present  use  of  the  Law,  -         -         -     56 

Lect.  V. — The  convincing  power  of  the  Law,    -         -         -     73 
Lect.  VI. — The  condemning  power  of  the  Law,  -         -     91 

Lect.  VII. — The  Law  a  guide  to  Christ,  -         -         -  109 

Lect.  VIII. — Christ,  the  Righteousness  of  the  Law,   -         -  126 
Lect.  IX. — The  Law,  the  Christian's  Rule  of  Life,    -         -"141 
Lect.  X. — The  worth  of -Man's  obedience  to  the  Law,         -  158 
Lect.  XI. — The  Salvation  of  the  Gospel  confirming  Man^s  • 
Obedience  to  the  Law,  ......  176 

Lect.  XII. — The  Perfection  of  the  Divine  Law,         -         -  194 

LECTURES  ON  THE  GOSPEL. 

Lect.  I.— The  Object  of  the  Gospel,  -         -  -  -213 

Lect.  II.— The  Gospel  Way  of  Salvation,  -  -  -  230 

Lect.  III.— The  History  of  the  Gospel,      -         -  -  -  246 

Lect.  IV.— The  Wisdom  of  the  Gospel,     -         -  -  -263 

Lect.  V.— The  Power  of  the  Gospel  to  Save,     -  -  -  279 

Lect.  VI. — The  Power  of  the  Gospel  to  Condemn,      -  -  297 

Lect.  VII.— The  Grace  of  the  Gospel  as  a  Divine  Gift,  -  313 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Lect.  viii. — The  Glory  of  the  Gospel  as  a  Revelation  of 

God,   -        .        .        - 330 

Lect.  IX. — The  Glory  of  the  Gospel  from  its  Method  of 

Publication, 346 

Lect.  X. — The  Glory  of  the  Gospel  from  the  Subjects  which 

it  proclaims, 361 

Lect.  XL — The  Gospel  Magnifying  the  Law,  -  -  -  374 
Lect.  XII. — The  Guilt  and  Danger  of  Rejecting  the  last 

Revelation  from  God, 391 


ftTf; 


LECTURE  I. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  AN  ACCURATE  KNOWLEDGE  OP  THE 
DIVINE  LAW. 

Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law. 

Psalm  cxix.  18. 

By  the  law  of  God,  the  sacred  writer  here  means 
the  whole  revelation  of  the  Divine  will  to  man.  He 
designates  this  divine  revelation,  in  this  psalm,  by 
the  various  words,  "  Statutes,  commandments,  testi- 
monies, judgments,  precepts  and  law."  They  are 
all  employed,  to  describe  that  connected  and  perfect 
system  of  instruction,  which  is  contained  in  the 
"  Holy  Scriptures  given  by  inspiration  of  God."  In 
dwelling  upon  these  communications  of  the  will  of 
God,  the  psalmist  speaks  the  language  of  a  heart 
that  fervently  loved  his  holy  commands,  and  rejoiced 
to  contemplate  the  excellence  and  purity  of  his  char- 
acter. In  the  extent  of  spiritual  application  which 
he  perceived  in  these  commands, — in  the  ardour  of 
his  prayers  that  they  might  be  engraven  upon  his 
own  heart ;  in  the  sorrow  which  he  felt  at  witness- 
ing the  transgressions  of  them  by  others ;  in  the 
eagerness  of  his  desire  to  understand  more  clearly 
their  excellence  and  perfection  ; — he  has  displayed 
his  view  of  their  importance,  and  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit,  in  reference  to  the  worth  of  a  full  understand- 
ing of  them  to  man.  And  we  must  unite  with  the 
same  affectionate  and  earnest  spirit,  in  the  petition 

1* 


10  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  I. 

which  he  has  set  before  us,  ^'  Open  thou  mine  eyes, 
that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law," 

In  our  natural  ignorance  of  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  in  the  sinful  aversion  of  our  af- 
fections from  them,  there  is  a  veil  of  thick  darkness 
concealing  from  us  the  blessed  truths  which  God 
alone  reveals.  We  discern  them  neither  in  their 
meaning,  nor  in  the  extent  of  their  influence.  We 
confine  our  views  of  the  Divine  precepts,  to  their 
application  in  the  letter  to  our  outward  conduct, 
and  do  not  perceive  the  extent  of  their  demands 
upon  the  thoughts  and  intentions  of  the  heart.  And 
neither  as  the  standard  of  required  obedience,  nor  as 
the  measure  of  actual  guilt,  are  we  willing  to  con- 
sider, or  able  to  comprehend,  that  the  divine  com- 
mandment is  exceeding  broad.  This  veil  of  spirit- 
ual ignorance,  the  Holy  Ghost  alone  can  remove. 
He  must  enlighten  our  blindness,  and  unfold  to  us, 
the  secret  and  unsearchable  truths  of  his  own  word. 
And  to  him,  therefore,  we  direct  our  prayer  for  illu- 
mination and  guidance,  in  the  good,  acceptable,  and 
perfect  will  of  God,  that  we  may  be  led,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  obtain  a  full  knowledge  of  our  sin,  and  on 
the  other,  of  the  sufficiency,  and  application  to  our- 
selves, of  the  glorious,  appointed  Saviour  ;  discern- 
ing the  things  which  are  freely  given  to  us  of  God. 

The  law,  of  which  I  purpose,  by  the  divine  help, 
to  speak,  is  that  one  great  moral  law  of  God,  all  the 
commandments  of  which,  are  "  holy,  just,  and  good  f 
an  obedience  to  which,  ''  is  more  to  be  desired  than 
gold,  yea,  than  much  fine  gold ;"  the  purity  of  which 
is,  to  a  holy  mind,  ''  sweeter  than  honey,  and  the 
honeycomb ;"  by  the  guidance  of  which,  the  "  ser- 
.  vant  of  God  is  warned;"  and  in  the  "keeping  of 


LECT.  I.]  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  11 

which,  there  is  great  reward."  This  law  is  a  reve- 
lation to  man  of  the  will  of  God.  It  is  a  transcript 
and  publication  of  his  holy  and  perfect  mind.  It  is 
the  rule  of  angelic  obedience.  It  was  tlie  guide 
given  to  man  at  his  creation.  It  is  the  law,  obedi- 
ence to  which,  would  have  given  him  eternal  life ; 
the  violation  of  which,  subjected  him  to  condemna- 
tion. It  is  the  law,  which  has  been  fulfilled  for  the 
sinner's  justification,  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
constituted  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant ; — which 
is  written  again  upon  the  heart  of  the  justified  and 
restored  man,  according  to  the  provisions  of  this 
covenant,  by  the  Holy  Spirit ; — and  in  cheerful  and 
permanent  obedience  to  which,  he  is  to  glorify  and 
honour  his  redeeming. Lord,  in  his  eternal  and  heav- 
enly kingdom.  This  is  the  law  of  which  I  speak  ; 
the  law  which  requires  in  every  intelligent  creature, 
supreme  love  to  God,  and  unqualified  submission  in 
the  spirit  of  love,  to  all  his  commandments. 

An  accurate  knowledge  and  understanding  of  this 
divine  law,  lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  true  relig- 
ion, and  of  all  instruction  in  the  things  of  God.  By 
this  alone,  can  we  be  taught  to  appreciate  and  ac- 
cept, the  gracious  provisions  of  the  Gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  in  whom,  God  has  been  pleased 
to  do  for  us,  what  the  law  required,  but  could  not 
do  ;  and  by  whom,  he  has  laid  open  for  us  unsearch- 
able riches  of  grace,  meeting  all  the  demands  of  the 
law,  "  magnifying  it,  and  making  it  honorable,"  so 
that  he  is  revealed,  as  "  the  end  (or  perfection)  of 
the  law  for  righteousness,  to  every  one  that  believ- 
eth."  The  importance  to  us,  of  a  clear  and  distinct 
intelligence  of  this  subject,  cannot  be  overstated ; 
and  we  may  well  take  upon  our  lips,  and  utter  from 


12  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  I. 

our  hearts,  the  psalmist's  prayer,  "  Open  thou  mine 
eyes,  that  I  may  behold  the  wondrous  things  of  thy 
law." 

I.  Here"  we  gain  all  just  conceptions  of  the  charac- 
ter of  God.  His  divine  perfections  are  shining  here. 
By  his  own  revelation  of  himself  alone,  do  we  knovr 
anything  of  him.  "  In  his  light,  we  see  light."  His 
holy  law  is  a  description  of  himself;  the  utterance 
in  words,  of  his  perfect,  but  previously  concealed 
mind  and  will.  Whatever  be  the  character  of  our 
views  of  his  law,  will  therefore  be  the  description 
of  our  views  of  himself  The  nature  of  his  mind 
will  be  estimated  by  us,  by  our  impressions  of  the 
nature  of  his  commands. 

1.  Our  apprehension  of  th^  purity  and  extent  of 
the  law  of  God  is  the  measure  of  our  conception  of 
the  holiness  of  his  own  character.  If  we  perceive 
this,  reaching  to  every  thought,  as  well  as  to  every 
word  and  act  of  our  being ;  requiring  in  us  a  perfect 
purity  of  mind  and  heart ;  demanding  the  spotless 
preservation  of  God's  perfect  image  upon  our  souls ; 
allowing  no  deviation,  even  inadvertently  or  in  ig- 
norance ;  accepting  only  an  unfailing  adherence  to 
every  precept,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  life ; 
passing  over  no  stain  of  sin  without  immediate  con- 
demnation ;  we  shall  look  upon  the  Being  from 
whom  it  has  proceeded,  and  of  whose  mind  it  is  the 
copy,  as  a  Being  of  infinite  purity  and  holiness ;  one 
who  cannot  regard  iniquity  but  with  abhorrence. 
But  if  we  are  satisfied  with  any  inferior,  or  more 
limited  view^  of  the  law,  than  this,  we  shall  find 
ourselves  detractino^  in  the  same  degree,  from  the 
holiness  of  its  author,  and  necessarily  conceive  of 
him,  as  a  Being  less  opposed  to  sin.     If  we  imagine 


LECT.  I.]  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  13 

that  he  will  relax  in  the  strict  application  of  his 
commands,  that  he  will  suffer  man  to  depart  from 
the  standard  of  absolutely  perfect  obedience,  with 
impunity,  we  certainly  impute  to  him  a  connivance 
at  transgressions,  and  lay  a  serious  stain  upon  the 
excellence  of  his  character.  In  the  same  propor- 
tion, our  reverence  for  him  becomes  diminished ;  our 
fear  of  his  inspection  is  destroyed ;  our  dread  of  his 
judgment  passes  away.  He  has  become,  in  our 
view,  in  this  uncertainty  of  his  annunciations,  or  in 
this  feebleness  of  his  authority,  altogether  such  an 
one  as  ourselves.  And  in  reducing  our  conceptions 
of  the  extent  of  his  law,  we  have  destroyed  our 
ability  to  appreciate,  or  to  reverence  the  holiness  of 
his  character. 

2.  Our  apprehension  of  the  certainty  and  solem- 
nity of  the  law  of  God,  will  be  the  measure  of  our 
conceptions  of  his  justice.  It  is  here  that  we  are 
taught  what  is  the  justice  of  God.  If  we  realize 
how  strong  and  awful  are  the  sanctions  which  he 
has  appended  to  his  law,  and  by  which  its  obliga- 
tions are  enforced ;  if  we  see  that  they  involve  no- 
thing less  than  the  everlasting  happiness  or  misery 
of  every  child  of  man ;  that  they  are  dependent  upon 
a  single  defect  of  whatever  kind  in  the  obedience  of 
man ;  that  they  can  never  be  withdrawn,  or  satisfied 
by  man,  or  mitigated  in  their  power,  or  cease  to  op- 
erate, throughout  eternity;  that  they  can  never 
qualify  or  yield  in  a  single  point,  the  fearful  testi- 
mony, "  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die ;"  we  see 
how  fixed  and  unerring  is  the  justice  of  that  Being 
who  has  given  and  established  this  law.  We  be- 
hold him  here,  "  a  just  judge ;"  "  a  judge  who  doeth 
right,"  "  a  great  and  dreadful  king."    But  any  lower 


14  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  I. 

view  of  the  fixed  sanctions  of  the  law,  will  necessa- 
rily lead  to  a  lower  estimate  of  the  divine  justice 
which  has  been  manifested  in  them.  If  we  suppose 
that  God  will  arrest  or  mitigate  the  operation  of  his 
law ;  that  he  will  overlook  the  imperfections  and 
wanderings  of  those  whom  he  has  placed  under  it ; 
or  that  he  will  punish  them  only  in  some  limited 
degree,  which  man  may  be  able  to  bear ;  that  ever- 
lasting death  will  not  be  the  wages  of  sin ;  that  the 
threatenings  of  divine  anger  against  the  unrighteous- 
ness of  men,  will  not  be  executed  in  the  fulness  of 
their  denunciation ; — we  become  accustomed  to  low 
and  derogatory  ideas  of  the  divine  justice,  and  re- 
duce the  King  of  heaven,  from  the  throne  of  unap- 
proachable excellence  and  unchanging  truth,  to 
some  inferior  position,  both  in  government  and  char- 
acter. Being  ignorant  of  the  stability  and  strictness 
of  his  law,  we  form  no  honorable  conceptions  of  his 
justice  in  himself. 

3.  Our  accurate  knowledge  of  the  demands  of  the 
law,  is  the  source  of  all  proper  conceptions  of  the 
divine  mercy  and  love.  Here  only,  do  we  see  the 
depths  of  the  compassion  of  God  for  fallen  men. 
When  our  guilt  in  transgression,  appears  to  us, 
great  beyond  all  our  ability  to  measure  or  calculate ; 
when  we  feel  ourselves  exposed  to  a  judgment  and 
condemnation  commensurate  with  our  innumerable 
offences ;  when  we  see  our  sins  to  be  more  in  num- 
ber than  the  sands  upon  the  sea-shore ;  when  w^e 
are  convinced  that  each  of  them  deserves  the  eter- 
nal wrath  and  vengeance  of  God,  and  that  we  are 
lying  under  this  just  wrath,  as  an  everlasting  load; 
we  shall  be  able  in  some  degree,  to  appreciate  the 
mercy,  which  has  provided,  unsought  by  us,  the 


LECT.  I.j  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  15 

means  of  full  forgiveness  ;  we  shall  adore  with  won- 
dering gratitude,  the  compassion  of  that  offended 
Being,  who,  instead  of  executing  upon  us  the  ven- 
geance which  he  had  threatened,  has  himself  origi- 
nated a  remedy  for  our  souls  condemned,  entirely 
suited  to  our  wants  and  adequate  to  our  necessities ; 
by  which  he  may  restore  the  guilty  to  his  favour,  and 
to  life  eternal,  without  compromising  the  honour  of 
his  law,  or  the  truth  of  his  character,  but  with  the 
everlasting  and  increased  glory  of  both.  With  such 
a  view  of  the  law,  we  shall  appreciate  the  bound- 
less extent  of  the  love,  which  can  pardon  so  much 
guilt,  relieve  from  so  much  misery,  and  exalt  and 
justify  creatures  so  unworthy  and  so  polluted.  But 
any  inferior  conception  of  the  demands  of  the  law, 
reducing  our  estimate  of  the  guilt  and  danger  of 
transgression,  will  just  so  much  reduce  our  estimate 
of  a  mercy  which  will  appear  to  be  in  the  same  de- 
gree less  needed,  and  to  have  accomplished  a  less 
important  and  less  considerable  deliverance.  A 
ruined  sinner,  conscious  that  he  has  been  ransomed 
by  amazing  grace,  from  eternal  death,  and  rescued 
like  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire,  will  feel  abun- 
dant cause  to  magnify  the  love  and  mercy  of  God 
forever.  He  has  had  much  forgiven,  and  he  will 
love  much  in  return.  But  one  who  thinks  he  has 
had  less  to  be  forgiven,  will  necessarily  love  less 
also ; — and  in  the  very  proportion  in  which  he  limits 
his  view  of  the  penalties  he  had  incurred,  and  the 
dangers  to  which  he  was  exposed,  will  he  also  di- 
minish his  conceptions  of  the  mercy  of  which  he 
has  been  made  the  less  unworthy  object. 

All  our  apprehensions  of  the  moral  attributes  of 
God  will  be  thus  regulated  by  our  knowledge  of  his 


16  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  I. 

law,  and  our  views  of  its  demands.  And  in  refer- 
ence to  them  all,  it  will  be  found  indubitably  true, 
that  loose  and  superficial  conceptions  of  the  one, 
will  produce  low  and  ineffectual  ideas  of  the  other. 
"  God  is  known  by  the  judgments  which  he  exe- 
cuteth ;"  and  our  estimate  of  the  character  of  them, 
will  be  the  standard  by  which  we  shall  judge  of  his 
attributes,  and  government  and  claims. 

II.  In  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  divine  law 
alone,  do  we  gain  just  views  of  the  character  and 
work  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind : — And  our  concep- 
tions of  the  demands  of  the  law,  and  our  estimate 
and  apprehension  of  the  wonderful  mediation  by 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  fulfilled  it,  will 
always  be  found  in  exact  proportion  to  each  other. 

1.  We  shall  here  see,  that  our  necessity  for  such  a 
Saviour^  arises  from  our  condition  under  the  judg- 
ment and  condemnation  of  the  law.  We  shall  behold 
ourselves  as  transgressors  of  the  divine  command- 
ments ;  as  shut  up  under  a  just  sentence  of  con- 
demnation for  sin,  to  eternal  death  ;  as  utterly  in- 
competent to  make  the  satisfaction,  which  must  be 
made,  before  we  can  be  released,  from  the  bondage 
under  guilt,  and  the  exposure  to  righteous  anger,  in 
which  we  are  held.  This  condition  makes  our  need 
for  some  "  daysman,"  who  can  take  our  burden  upon 
himself,  and  can  speak  in  righteousness,  mighty  to 
save.  The  breach  between  us  and  God  which  our 
guilt  has  caused,  must  be  made  up,  and  we  cannot 
do  it.  We  can  neither  restore  to  God,  the  honour  we 
have  taken  from  him ;  nor  regain  for  ourselves,  the 
image  of  his  holiness,  which  we  have  lost  in  sin. 
We  must  therefore  have  a  Saviour  who  shall  be  able 
to  bear  the  curse  and  condemnation  under  which 


LECT.  I.]  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  17 

we  are  lying,  and  to  restore  the  union  of  our  souls 
with  God,  which  we  have  broken  and  cast  away. 
The  violated  law  holds  us  in  bondage, — our  lost  con- 
dition under  it  demands  a  Redeemer  who  is  mighty ; 
— and  it  is  only  as  we  understand  the  extent  of  our 
need,  that  we  can  appreciate  the  iudispensable  ne- 
cessity to  us,  of  such  a  Saviour  as  God  has  revealed. 
2.  Then  our  estimate  of  the  nature  and  ivortli  of 
the  atonement  which  the  Lord  Jesus  has  made,  will 
be  regulated  by  our  knowledge  of  the  law,  which 
has  required  it.  Whatever  is  our  view  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  necessity,  will  be  also  our  measure  of 
the  nature  of  the  offering  by  which  it  has  been  met. 
A  knowledge  of  the  claims  of  the  divine  law  will 
convince  us,  that  our  sins  are  wholly  innumerable, 
and  our  guilt,  inconceivably  great.  Every  deviation 
from  the  line  of  perfect  obedience  has  brought  upon 
us  a  curse,  an  everlasting  curse,  under  the  righteous 
judgment  of  God.  This  judgment  which  is  accord- 
ing to  truth,  can  never  be  satisfied,  with  anything  but 
the  full  punishment  denounced  upon  the  offender, 
either  in  his  own  person,  or  in  that  of  an  adequate 
surety.  The  death  which  the  law  has  threatened, 
must  be  endured,  before  a  satisfaction  can  be  made. 
And  the  knowledge  of  the  law  which  displays  to  us, 
this  death  as  the  wages  of  sin,  will  also  show  to  us 
the  really  satisfying  nature  of  that  offering,  by  which 
our  Blessed  Lord  ''  has  redeemed  us  from  the  curse 
of  the  law,  by  being  made  a  curse  in  our  stead." 
As  our  convictions  of  our  own  guilt  are  extended 
and  accurate,  we  shall  exalt  and  value  the  work  of 
that  glorious  Saviour,  who  hath  borne  our  iniquities, 
and  put  away  our  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself 
And  in  the  same  degree,  in  which  we  reduce  our 

3 


18  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  I. 

apprehensions  of  our  necessity,  and  of  the  condem- 
nation which  our  sin  deserves,  shall  we  also  depre- 
ciate the  worth,  and  destroy  the  character,  of  that 
gracious  atonement  which  has  been  made  and  ac- 
cepted in  our  behalf  A  clear  view  of  what  unpar- 
doned sinners  w^ould  be  compelled  to  do  and  bear, 
will  alone  accurately  teach,  wiiat  the  Lord  Jesus 
has  mercifully  done  and  borne,  for  them  whom  he 
has  redeemed  and  pardoned. 

3.  Our  understanding  of  the  justification  which 
has  been  accomplished  for  us  by  the  Lord  Jesus, 
will  also  depend  upon  our  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  demands  of  the  divine  law.  We  shall  see  that 
this  law  is  never  to  be  satisfied,  but  by  a  perfect  and 
distinct  obedience  to  its  commands  ;  that  it  requires 
every  soul  to  possess,  and  to  present  to  God,  a  right- 
eousness which  shall  meet  its  highest  claims  ;  that 
it  refuses  to  relax  these  requisitions  in  the  least  de- 
gree ;  that  it  insists  upon  their  fulfilment  in  every 
point,  and  to  the  utmost  extent.  With  this  convic- 
tion, we  shall  honour  and  exalt  the  great  Redeemer, 
who  has  accomplished  in  his  own  personal  obedience 
for  us,  this  required  righteousness ;  and  has  opened, 
through  the  offering  of  this  spotless  righteousness, 
first  to  God,  in  man's  behalf,  and  then  to  man,  as  his 
title  to  acceptance  with  God,  a  full  and  everlasting 
justification  for  every  believing  soul.  We  shall  see 
and  understand  "  the  blessedness  of  the  man,  to  whom 
God  imputeth  righteousness  without  works."  But 
if  our  acknowledgment  of  these  demands  of  the 
law,  and  of  the  righteousness  which  they  require, 
be  ireduced  to  any  inferior  or  partial  standard ;  so 
that  our  own  alleged  sincere,  but  imperfect  obedi- 
ence may  be  accepted  ;  in  this  false  conception  of 


LECT.  I.]  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  19 

the  character  of  the  law,  we  undermine  the  whole 
system  of  grace,  as  offered  in  the  Gospel ;  we  make 
the  revealed  obedience  of  Jesus  a  mere  shadow  of 
the  imagination  ;  we  reduce  our  need  of  a  perfect 
righteousness  to  nothing  ;  we  cancel  all  our  obliga- 
tions to  him,  for  special  mercy  and  abounding  merit ; 
and  make  him  in  fact,  so  far  as  the  actual  neces- 
sity for  such  a  Saviour  is  concerned,  to  have  lived, 
obeyed,  and  died  for  men,  in  vain.  In  no  method 
can  we  understand,  or  appreciate,  the  glorious  privi- 
lege, of  having  the  "  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full 
of  grace  and  truth,"  as  the  "  Lord  our  righteousness," 
but  by  gaining  this  knowledge,  in  a  proper  knowl- 
edge of  the  law,  which  he  fidfilled. 

4.  The  same  course  of  remark  would  equally  ap- 
ply to  all  tJie  offices  of  our  Divine  Redeemer.  Our 
adequate  conceptions  of  them  all,  will  depend  upon 
our  accurate  knowledge  of  the  law  of  God.  We 
shall  not  seek  him  as  the  great  Prophet  w^ho  alone 
can  instruct  us  in  the  ways  of  God,  if  we  do  not 
feel  our  entire  helplessness  under  the  violated  law ; 
and  are  not  convinced  that  our  darkness  and  igno- 
rance are  such,  as  to  render  divine  illumination  and 
guidance  absolutely  indispensable.  We  shall  not 
depend  upon  him  as  our  High  Priest,  who  alone  can 
make  an  offering  for  us,  and  open  our  way  into  the 
holiest,  through  the  veil  of  his  flesh,  if  we  imagine 
that  any  repentance  or  reformation  of  ours,  can  be 
availing  or  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God.  We 
shall  never  look  to  him  as  our  only  prevailing  inter- 
cessor and  advocate  with  the  Father,  if  we  do  not 
realize  the  utter  worthlessness  of  the  best  that  we 
can  do  in  the  service  of  God.  We  shall  not  trust 
in  him  as  the  King  in  Zion,  who  alone  can  give  us 


20  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.   I. 

the  victory,  if  ,we  have  but  partial  apprehensions  of 
our  own  weakness,  and  rebellion,  and  dangers,  and 
see  no  necessity  for  Almighty  power  to  rescue,  or  to 
renew  us.  And  whatever  aspect  of  the  Saviour's 
work  we  consider,  the  same  remark  applies,  the  less 
that  seems  to  us  to  be  required  of  man  for  himself, 
the  less  will  also  appear  to  be  demanded  of  his  di- 
vine surety  interposing  in  his  behalf,  and  standing  in 
his  stead ;  and  the  less  we  consider  the  guilt  and 
danger  of  man  without  a  Saviour,  the  less  obliga- 
tion shall  we  necessarily  feel,  to  him  who  willingly 
assumed  and  endured  his  condemnation.  In  the 
degree  in  which  we  are  ignorant  of  the  demands  of 
the  law,  we  form  false  conceptions  of  the  necessities 
of  the  sinner  who  has  broken  it;  and  reduce  our 
estimate  of  the  whole  work  of  the  Son  of  God, 
who  undertook  to  redeem  him  from  its  curse,  and 
to  magnify  it  and  make  it  honorable.  And  if  we 
would  form  correct  apprehensions  of  the  Father's 
love,  who  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him 
up  for  us, — and  of  the  amazing  mercy  of  the  Son, 
who  came  to  do  his  will  in  this  redemption  of  the 
ungodly,  we  are  to  acquire  them,  in  that  divine 
teaching  which  shall  open  our  eyes  to  behold  won- 
drous things  out  of  the  law. 

III.  These  observations  are  equally  applicable  to 
the  office  and  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit^  the  com- 
forter, who  is  sent  to  renew  and  sanctify  the  souls 
which  the  Father  hath  given  to  the  Son,  and  the 
Son  has  redeemed  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself  A 
correct  apprehension  of  his  divine  work  for  the  peo- 
ple, of  God,  is  only  to  be  gained,  in  an  adequate  un- 
derstanding of  their  relation  to  the  law,  and  their 
condition  under  it. 


LECT.  I.]  KNOWLEDGE    OF   THE    LAW.  21 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  given  in  the  great  covenant  of 
redemption,  to  regenerate  the  sinful  nature  of  those, 
whom  "  God  hath  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foun- 
dation of  the  w^orld,  that  they  should  be  holy  and 
without  blame  before  him  in  love  ;"  to  create  them 
anew  after  his  divine  image ;  to  enlighten  them  to 
discern  the  riches  of  their  inheritance  in  Christ ; 
and  to  bring  them  to  the  enjoyment  of  their  adop- 
tion into  the  family  of  God.  In  precise  accordance 
therefore,  with  the  view  which  we  have,  of  the  spir- 
itual necessity  of  guilty  man,  upon  whom  this  work 
is  to  be  accomplished,  will  be  the  estimate  which 
we  shall  form,  of  the  work  itself  The  less  we  sup- 
pose to  be  our  natural  opposition  to  God,  and  our 
alienation  from  his  image,  the  less  will  there  be  in 
our  view,  to  be  done  by  the  Spirit  in  our  behalf 
If  there  be  not  entire  hostility  in  our  fallen  nature 
towards  God,  and  an  utter  destruction  of  the  first 
creation  of  our  souls  in  holiness,  what  necessity  can 
there  be  for  a  new  creation  ?  If  the  defect  be  par- 
tial, the  remedy  may  be  partial  also.  If  we  are 
not  actually  dead  in  sin,  why  should  we  require  a 
divine  and  life-giving  power  to  raise  us  from  the 
dead  1  If  we  have  not  wholly  gone  out  of  the  way 
of  life,  are  not  completely  lost  and  ruined,  how  shall 
we  suppose,  we  need  Almighty  grace  to  restore  us 
again  to  the  path  of  peace,  to  cleanse  us  from  our 
pollutions,  and  to  keep  us  in  the  way  everlasting  ? 
If  we  are  made  to  feel  that  our  dangers  and  wants 
are  extreme,  that  our  condition  is  one  of  total  cor- 
ruption and  depravity,  as  well  as  of  condemnation 
and  guilt,  we  shall  see  that  we  must  have  a  remedy 
adapted  to  such  extremities ;  we  shall  be  content 
with  nothing  short  of  the  power  of  the  Living  God, 


22  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  I, 

in  that  Spirit  who  is  to  pluck  us  "  out  of  the  horri- 
ble pit,  and  out  of  the  miry  clay,  and  to  set  our  feet 
upon  the  rock,"  which  the  Father's  love  hath  placed 
for  us,  in  the  atonement  and  righteousness  of  the  Son. 
They  who  gain  not  this  clear  perception  of  the 
condition  of  man  under  the  violated  law,  see  not 
their  need  of  the  continued  special  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  to  illuminate  their  minds,  or  to  sanctify 
their  hearts.  They  are  led  to  doubt,  'or  even  to* 
deny,  his  personal  agency  in  the  great  work  of  man's 
redemption.  In  connection  with  this,  they  are  often 
deluded  by  the  same  ignorance,  to  reject  the  whole 
revelation  of  the  Glorious  Persons  in  the  Trinity, — 
and  the  various  indispensable  doctrines  of  grace 
which  are  connected  with  it,  such  as  the  doctrine  of 
actual  satisfaction  for  sin  in  the  Saviour's  death, — 
of  the  imputation  of  his  righteousness  to  believers 
for  their  justification, — and  of  the  certain  preserva- 
tion of  them  in  new  obedience,  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  They  do  not  feel  themselves  to  be  de- 
stroyed in  sin  ;  they  see  not  therefore  their  need  of 
the  free  and  boundless  love  of  the  Father,  electing 
them  unto  life,  as  the  origin  of  their  hope ;  of  the 
divine  merit  of  an  Immanuel  to  bring  them  in  ac- 
ceptance before  him,  and  into  possession  of  this  life ; 
and  of  the  Almighty  agency  of  the  Spirit  to  enable 
them  to  know  and  to  receive  the  things  which  are 
thlis  freely  given  to  them  of  God.  Multitudes  thus 
bring  down  their  avowed  system  of  religion  to  some 
low  and  miserable  standard,  which  in  fact  almost 
assumes  the  sufficiency  of  their  own  nature,  and 
their  own  works  to  meet  the  judgment  and  to  claim 
thd  favour  of  God.  All  these  are  mistakes  which 
spring  altogether  from  an  ignorance  of  his  law.     Let 


LECT.  I.]  KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    LAW.  23 

them  obtain  a  thorough  insight  into  its  claims  and 
character  by  the  enbghtening  power  of  the  Spirit, 
and  they  will  then  see  how  solemnly  and  fatally  its 
demands  and  sanctions  shut  them  up  under  the  con- 
demnation and  bondage  of  sin ;  they  will  then  see, 
that  if  any  one  less  than  God  himself,  undertake 
their  salvation,  they  must  assuredly  perish;  they 
will  be  convinced  that  no  arm  inferior  to  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  can  rescue  them  from  the  wrath  to  which 
they  are  exposed,  or  bring  to  them  the  victory  they 
require; — they  will  humbly  seek,  and  then  shall 
surely  find,  the  free  and  great  salvation,  which  God 
has  so  clearly  revealed,  and  so  fully  offered,  in  the 
provisions  of  his  Gospel, — and  they  will  realize  the 
importance  of  the  prayer  before  us,  "  Open  thou 
mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things  out 
of  thy  law," — in  discerning  that  all  these  advances 
in  spiritual  knowledge  are  dependent  upon  an  accu- 
rate understanding  of  its  character  and  claims. 


LECTURE   II. 

THE  PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OP  A  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  LAW. 

Blessed  is  the  man  whom  thou  chastenest,  O  Lord,  and  teachest  him  out 
of  thy  law. — Psalm  xciv.  12. 

The  sacred  writer  uttered  this  sentiment  under 
circumstances  which  well  display  the  truth  he  in- 
tended to  express.  He  stood  amidst  the  overflowings 
of  ungodliness.  The  wicked  appeared  to  triumph 
on  every  side.  They  boasted  of  their  success  and 
power,  and  proclaimed  their  contempt  of  God .  They 
derided  the  warnings  of  the  divine  inspection,  and 
of  their  own  final  responsibility  to  God.  Amidst 
the  enormities  of  their  transgressions,  they  were  still 
self-confident  and  self-righteous.  The  psalmist  be- 
held this  wild  tumult  of  human  passions  and  human 
pride,  and  implored  a  divine  manifestation  of  the 
power  of  God,  in  the  execution  of  judgment  and 
vengeance  upon  the  ungodly  who  boasted  of  his  ab- 
sence and  unconcern.  And  in  the  midst  of  such 
iniquities  flowing  from  an  ignorance  of  God,  and  his 
holy  law,  he  proclaims  the  happiness  of  those  who, 
under  the  teaching  and  chastening  of  the  Lord,  have 
been  led  to  avoid  the  ways  of  evil  doers,  and  to  seek 
their  comforts  in  the  paths  of  his  commandments. 
Under  his  holy  discipline,  they  have  learned  the 
principles  of  truth,  and  acquired  that  practical  obe- 
dience which  a  knowledge  of  his  law  is  adapted  to 


LECT.  II.]    PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.         25 

impart.  And  by  its  direction,  they  are  saved  alike, 
from  the  rebellion  which  vainly  opposes  the  autho- 
rity of  God,  and  the  self-righteousness  which  justi- 
fies itself  in  opposition  to  him.  The  text  exhibits 
th'e  practical  influence  upon  man,  of  a  knowledge  of 
the  divine  law,  which  is  the  subject  now  before  us. 
And  while  it  declares  the  blessedness  of  the  man 
who  has  thus  been  taught  by  God,  it  shews  to  us, 
that  this  know^ledge  of  the  law  of  God,  is  far  from 
being  a  mere  speculation,  a  dead  theory  in  theology, 
but  is  a  spring  of  great  practical  influence,  which 
distinguishes  and  blesses  the  whole  course  of  a 
sound  experience  in  religion,  and  a  just  intelligence 
of  religious  truth. 

I.  All  true  religious  feeling  is  intimately  connected 
with  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  law  of  God.  Real 
spiritual  affections  are,  in  a  great  degree,  dependent 
upon  it.  Without  it,  man  cannot  have  real  convic- 
tion of  sin,  or  humility,  or  gratitude,  or  zeal,  or  love 
to  God.  And  whatever  blessedness  there  is,  in  these 
exercises  of  a  renewed  mind,  there  is  also,  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  law  upon  which  they  depend. 

1 .  We  can  have  no  real  conviction  of  sin,  without 
an  adequate  conception  of  the  demands  of  the  law, 
and  of  our  own  condition  under  it.  But  this  is  the 
very  first  step  in  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  when 
he  regenerates  a  child  of  wrath.  He  makes  him  to 
see  his  guilt,  and  to  feel  his  burden,  as  a  transgressor 
against  God.  Mere  natural  religion  makes  very  par- 
tial and  scanty  acknowledgments  of  sin.  It  confesses 
the  guilt  of  acts  of  transgression,  but  it  knows 
nothing  of  the  guilt  of  a  state  of  sin.  It  mourns  for 
crimes,  not  for  condition.  It  imagines  no  other  me- 
thod of  return  to  God  necessary,  than  a  sorrow  for 

2 


26         PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.    [lECT.  II. 

the  deeds  of  the  past,  and  an  effort  of  amendment 
for  the  future.  But  our  natural  condition  is  one  of 
entire  ruin.  We  are,  in  our  fallen  state,  under  the 
divine  condemnation.  "  As  many  as  are  of  the 
works  of  the  law,  are  under  a  curse ;"  and  the  wrath 
of  God  abideth  on  them.  Of  the  reality  and  extent 
of  this  guilt  and  ruin  however,  we  are  ignorant,  until 
God  the  Spirit  teaches  us  out  of  his  law.  "  By  the 
law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin ;"  and  the  conviction 
which  we  have  of  our  guilt  as  transgressors  under 
it,  must  depend  upon  the  knowledge  we  have  of  its 
character  and  claims.  If  we  have  been  taught  the 
spotless  and  inflexible  system  of  this  Divine  law, 
demanding  the  utmost  conceivable  devotion  to  God, 
and  an  unerring  and  unrelaxed  obedience  of  his  will, 
and  denouncing  the  anger  of  God  against  every  soul 
of  man  that  doeth  evil ;  when  our  eyes  are  opened 
to  behold  our  own  condition  as  sinners,  we  shall  see 
ourselves  to  be  wholly  guilty  in  his  sight,  and  our 
mouths  will  be  stopped  from  all  excuse.  There  will 
be  found  by  us,  no  single  feeling  or  thought,  upon 
the  purity  of  which  we  can  rest  the  shadow  of  hope ; 
and  no  circumstance  whicih  we  can  plead  to  extenu- 
ate a  single  deficiency.  We  shall  find  ourselves  to 
be  condemned  before  God,  wholly  and  everlastingly. 
And  our  deep  conviction  of  guilt,  will  bring  us  be- 
fore him  with  the  solemn  confession,  ''  I  know,  that 
in  me,  there  dwelleth  no  good  thing."  But  if  we 
have  only  received,  and  have  been  satisfied  with, 
general,  partial,  and  indefinite  views  of  the  claims 
of  the  law,  the  same  general  and  indistinct  impres- 
sions will  be  transferred  to  our  convictions  of  per- 
sonal guilt  in  our  transgressions  of  it.  Our  hearts 
will  plead  a  thousand  vain  excuses  from  tempta- 


LECT.  II.]    PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.         27 

tioiis  to  which  we  were  exposed,  or  from  the  weak- 
ness of  our  nature,  or  from  the  inadvertence  which 
surprised  us, — and  we  shall  never  be  led  to  acknowl- 
edge ourselves  altogether  unholy,  and  justly  con- 
demned. We  may  acknowledge  that  in  many  things 
we  have  done  wrong,  but  we  shall  not  see  that  every 
thing  which  we  have  done  is  wrong ;  we  may  con- 
fess that  many  of  our  acts  are  evil,  but  we  shall  not 
confess  that  the  secret  thoughts  of  our  hearts  are  also 
filled  with  odious  and  abominable  wickedness.  We 
shall  still  have  that  self-righteous  spirit  which  springs 
from  an  ignorance  of  the  divine  law. 

2.  As  our  conviction  of  sin,  is  thus  dependent  upon 
our  knowledge  of  the  law,  so  also  is  our  humility 
under  this  conviction.  The  importance  of  this  tem- 
per of  mind  the  Scriptures  largely  teach  us.  "  The 
Lord  resisteth  the  proud,  but  giveth  grace  to  the 
humble."  "  To  this  man  will  I  look,  even  to  him 
that  is  poor,  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  trembleth 
at  my  word."  "  Whosoever  exalteth  himself,  shall 
be  abased,  but  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be 
exalted."  Humility  is  not  merely  a  sense  of  our 
weakness  as  creatures  ;  nor  a  general  acknowledg- 
ment only  of  our  character  as  sinners.  There  is  not 
a  human  being  who  would  refuse  either  of  these  con- 
cessions. But  it  is  a  real  and  deep  consciousness  of 
our  guilty  and  lost  condition,  as  justly  and  eternally 
condemned  before  God ;  a  clear  perception  of  the 
total  opposition  of  our  hearts  to  the  will  of  God ;  and 
of  the  entire  absence  in  our  lives  of  the  least  con- 
formity to  his  commands.  It  is  such  a  sense  of  our 
wicked  alienation  from  God,  of  our  voluntary  rebel- 
lion against  him ;  such  a  conviction  that  every  im- 
agination of  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts,  is  only  evil 


^ 


28  PRACTICAL    INFLUENCE    OF    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  II. 

continually,  as  makes  us  really  abhor  and  loathe  our- 
selves, and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes,  before  a  Being 
who  search  eth  our  hearts,  and  will  bring  every  secret 
thing  into  judgment,  and  set  our  secret  sins  in  the 
light  of  his  countenance.  Such  a  broken  and  con- 
trite spirit,  the  Holy  Spirit  gives,  and  God  will  not 
despise.  But  how  rarely  is  such  a  spirit  seen  among 
men.  How  seldom  even  among  those  who  profess 
to  be,  and  who  we  trust  are,  truly  awakened  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  do  we  behold  this  deep  sense  of  guilt, 
and  this  humble  acknowledgment  of  exposure  to 
God's  just  wrath  and  indignation.  How  generally 
in  the  world,  is  there  a  disposition  to  think,  that 
such  feelings  are  either  wholly  pretended,  or  else 
absurdly  extravagant,  even  if  they  are  real;  and 
that  the  expressions  of  them  are  fanatical  and  to  be 
avoided.  But  why  is  this  ? — Are  these  views  a  false 
estimate  of  the  sinner's  condition?  Is  such  self- 
abasement  unsuitable  to  his  character  and  state  ? 
Surely  not.  But  such  objectors  have  no  knowledge 
of  the  divine  law.  They  do  not  try  themselves,  or 
others,  by  this  high  and  holy  standard.  They  are 
insensible  of  their  own  departures  from  God ; — they 
do  not  feel  themselves  to  be  lost  in  sin  ; — and  they 
can  see  no  cause  for  such  undue  humiliation,  under 
a  burden  which  does  not  appear  to  them  to  be  ex- 
treme or  destructive.  The  idea  of  humility,  as  the 
Holy  Spirit  describes  it  in  his  word,  and  forms  it  in 
the  soul  which  he  creates  anew,  never  enters  into 
the  natural  mind.  The  unconverted  man  cannot 
comprehend  it.  He  neither  possesses  it,  nor  desires 
it,  nor  approves  of  it,  according  to  its  real  import. 
It  is  one  of  the  things  which  God  teaches  man  out 
of  his  law,  and  which  can  be  learned  under  no  other 


LECT.  II.]    PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.         29 

discipline  than  that  blessed  one,  by  which  he  edu- 
cates the  "  vessels  of  his  mercy  whom  he  hath  afore 
prepared  unto  glory."  When  we  have  been  truly 
instructed  in  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  law,  and 
never  till  then,  our  convictions  of  sin  will  be  deep 
and  definite, — and  our  self-abasement  under  them, 
lowly  and  abiding ;  then  we  shall  see,  and  humbly 
acknowledge,  that  we  are  utterly  destitute  of  all 
claim  to  mercy  from  God,  and  w^holly  unworthy  of 
its  exercise  towards  us. 

3.  The  exercise  of  real  gratitude  to  God,  is  also 
dependent  upon  our  accurate  knowledge  of  his  law. 
Gratitude  is  a  thankful  consciousness  and  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  mercies  which  we  have  personally 
received  from  God.  Its  exercise  must  therefore  ne- 
cessarily depend  upon  the  amount,  and  the  nature, 
of  the  benefits  which  we  believe  have  been  con- 
ferred upon  us.  If  we  are  truly  the  children  of 
God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  we  shall  view  our- 
selves in  the  light  of  God's  revelations  of  truth. 
We  shall  see  ourselves  to  be  the  captives  of  sin  and 
Satan,  ransomed  from  death  and  hell,  by  the  precious 
and  perfect  obedience,  and  amazing  death  of  our  in- 
carnate God.  We  shall  be  in  our  own  apprehension, 
altogether,  as  "  brands  plucked  out  of  the  burning ;" 
nor  can  we  imagine  mercy  showed  to  any,  which 
would  constitute  them  greater  monuments  of  grace 
than  we  are.  With  such  a  view  of  our  condition 
and  obligations,  our  whole  soul  will  bless  our  Re- 
deemer and  Lord,  for  "  the  unsearchable  riches  "  of 
his  grace.  We  shall  call  upon  all  within  us,  to 
praise  his  name.  We  shall  rejoice  in  God  who  hath 
become  our  salvation,  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory.     But  alas !  how  far  are  we  generally  from 


30         PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.    [lECT.  II. 

such  gratitude  as  this !  How  few  are  duly  sensible 
of  the  vast  obligations  which  divine  mercy  has  laid 
upon  them  !  With  the  great  proportion  of  professing 
Christians,  some  faint  and  general  acknowledgments 
of  divine  goodness,  are  quite  sufficient  to  express 
their  sense  of  the  love  which  has  ransomed  them 
from  going  down  into  the  pit ;  and  they  are  disposed 
to  consider  stronger  language  and  deeper  emotions, 
than  those  to  which  they  are  accustomed,  as  exces- 
sive, and  wanting  in  sobriety.  But  how  false  and 
how  dangerous  is  such  an  estimate  !  How  different 
is  it  from  the  mind  of  beings  who  surround  the 
throne  of  God  in  glory  !  There,  redeemed  saints 
are  filled  with  adoring  admiration  of  the  grace  which 
has  been  displayed  in  the  scheme  of  man's  deliver- 
ance ;  contemplating  its  transcendent  excellency,  and 
praising  God  for  the  glory  which  he  has  gained  from 
its  accomplishment.  There  is  no  coldness  or  for- 
mality there,  because  they  fully  discern  the  evil 
which  has  been  remedied,  and  the  blessing  which 
has  been  conferred.  And  why  are  men  on  earth, 
cold  and  indifferent,  but  because  they  do  not  see  the 
depths  of  condemnation,  from  which  they  have  been 
rescued,  or  the  labor  which  their  deliverance  re- 
quired,— or  the  amazing  love,  which  led  a  divine 
Saviour  to  undertake  it  ]  Did  they  behold,  in  the 
mirror  of  God's  holy  law,  the  burden  and  bondage, 
from  which  they  have  been  ransomed,  and  the  in- 
estimable worth  of  the  offering  which  must  be  made, 
and  which  has  been  made  for  them,  they  would 
surely  have  far  other  feelings  towards  that  Glorious 
Immanuel,  who  came  down  into  the  abyss  of  their 
ruin,  and  put  away  their  punishment,  by  enduring 
it  himself     A  just  knowledge  and  estimate  of  the 


LECT.  II.]         PRACTICAL    INFLUENCE    OF    THE    LAW.  31 

claims  of  the  law  which  have  been  fulfilled  by  him, 
would  lead  to  a  high  appreciation  of  the  love  which 
he  has  exercised,  and  the  obligations  under  which 
we  are  placed.  But  an  ignorance  of  the  law,  in  the 
very  same  proportion,  reduces  our  consciousness  of 
the  mercy  of  the  law-fulfiUer,  and  our  gratitude  for 
the  work  which  he  has  finished.  The  measure  of 
our  praise  to  God,  is  one  of  the  things  therefore 
which  he  must  teach  us  out  of  his  law. 

4.  From  the  same  source  of  instruction,  will  spring 
all  true  zeal  for  God,  and  for  his  service  and  glory. 
Thus  are  our  hearts  to  be  taught  a  thorough  and 
affectionate  engagement  in  his  service,  as  our  Re- 
deemer and  King.  Who  is  there  among  the  Lord's 
people,  that  feels  this  zeal  for  God,  in  any  measure 
correspondent  with  the  standard  which  the  Holy 
Scriptures  have  established.  There  we  are  repre- 
sented, as  bought  with  an  inestimable  price,  and  are 
called  upon,  with  intense  gratitude  for  this  amazing 
mercy,  to  glorify  God  in  our  bodies  and  spirits  which 
are  his.  With  an  adequate  sense  of  our  obligations 
to  God,  the  language  of  our  hearts  would  be,  "  what 
shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  7" 
No  services  of  ours  would  appear  an  adequate  re- 
turn to  him.  All  that  we  could  do  for  such  a  Lord, 
would  be  as  nothing  in  our  eyes.  All  that  we  should 
suffer  for  him,  would  be  light  and  gladly  borne.  Our 
time,  our  talents,  our  property,  our  influence,  our 
whole  life,  would  appear  to  be  of  value  in  our  eyes, 
only  as  they  could  be  made  humbly  subservient  to 
the  advancement  of  the  divine  glory.  The  whole 
world  would  seem  to  us,  in  comparison  with  the 
cross  of  Christ,  in  the  strong  expression  of  Arch* 
bishop  Leighton,  "one  grand  impertinence."     But 


32         PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.    [lECT.  II. 

how  little  of  this  spirit  do  we  feel !  How  little  of  it, 
do  we  see  in  others !  How  little  is  it  loved  and  ap- 
proved among  men,  even  in  the  measure  in  which  it 
is  manifested !  How  infinitely  below  this  "  reason- 
able service,"  is  the  standard  of  the  multitude,  who 
still  value  themselves  upon  the  usefulness  and  ex- 
cellence of  their  lives  among  men !  But  this  defi- 
ciency must  also  be  traced,  to  the  one  cause,  of  which 
we  have  already  spoken  so  much.  Humility,  grati- 
tude, zeal  for  God,  all  rise  or  fall,  as  our  views  of 
the  divine  law,  and  the  divine  redemption  which 
has  fulfilled,  and  honoured  it,  are  deep  and  accurate, 
or  superficial  and  defective.  We  can  never  acquire 
an  entire  devotedness  of  heart  to  God,  as  redeemed 
creatures,  until  we  apprehend  the  full  extent  and 
worth  of  the  redemption  which  we  have  received. 
If  our  views  of  the  great  purposes  and  blessings,  for 
which,  and  the  great  dangers  from  which,  we  "  have 
been  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus,"  are  low  and 
limited,  our  own  efforts  in  pressing  forward  to  ^'  ap- 
prehend "  these  mercies,  and  to  obey  him  who  hath 
conferred  them,  will  be  equally  limited.  To  walk 
as  Christ  walked,  will  appear  a  bondage  in  our  view. 
To  tread  in  the  steps  of  holy  apostles  will  seem  un- 
necessary. To  glory  only  in  the  cross,  and  to  rejoice 
if  we  are  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  Christ's 
sake,  will  seem  a  state  of  mind  only  necessary  and 
adapted,  for  persons  in  peculiar  stations  of  trial  and 
duty.  But  no  inferior  state  of  mind  is  adequate  to 
our  real  obligations, — or  will  be  acceptable  to  him. 
If  we  would  be  Christ's  indeed,  we  must  live,  not 
unto  ourselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  for  us,  and 
rose  again  ;  purifying  ourselves,  even  as  he  is  pure, 
and  striving  to  be  perfect,  as  our  Father  who  is  in 


LECT.  II.]    PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.         33 

heaven  is  perfect.  This  is  the  result  of  the  con- 
straining love  of  Christ,  and  of  our  union  by  faith  to 
him.  And  it  is  only  as  we  are  taught  out  of  the  law 
of  God,  that  we  are  truly  taught  our  need  of  Christ, 
— or  are  led  to  seek  our  complete  salvation  in  him. 

II.  The  practical  influence  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
law,  is  displayed  in  the  fact,  that  all  our  scriptural 
hopes,  are  dependant  upon  it.  The  importance  of  a 
distinct  and  well-defined  Christian  hope,  cannot  be 
estimated  too  highly.  "Ye  are  saved  by  hope." 
The  prayers  of  the  Apostles  for  those  to  whom  they 
wrote  or  ministered,  in  relation  to  this  subject,  are 
repeated  and  various  ;  that  the  eyes  of  their  under- 
standings might  be  enlightened,  to  discern  the  free 
and  unspeakable  gifts  of  God  in  his  Gospel,  to  com- 
prehend the  nature  and  w^orth  of  the  hopes  and  pri- 
vileges which  were  thus  bestowed  upon  them,  and 
to  be  able  to  give  to  others,  a  reason  for  the  hope 
which  they  possessed,  and  which  they  were  to  offer 
to  the  acceptance  of  all.  It  is  by  this  blessed  hope, 
which  personally  appropriates  to  ourselves,  the  gra- 
cious promises  of  God  in  the  Gospel,  and  enables 
us  to  realize  as  our  own,  things  w^hich  are  unseen 
and  eternal,  that  w^e  are  sustained  in  trial  and  duty, 
and  made  to  press  forward  to  the  prize  of  our  high 
callinor  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  But  clear  views  of 
religious  truth  are  indispensable  to  the  enjoyment  of 
a  rational  and  consoling  hope  of  eternal  life.  And 
while  Satan  is  deluding  the  multitudes  of  the  un- 
converted, w^ith  false  and  unfounded  hopes,  and  by 
the  influence  of  these,  is  persuading  them  to  reject 
the  invitations  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  remain  con- 
tented in  a  state  of  sin,  the  falsehood  of  his  devices 
is  only  to  be  ascertained  by  a  thorough  examina- 

2* 


34         PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.    [lECT.  II. 

tion  of  the  ground,  upon  which  these  hopes  profess 
to  rest. 

All  false  hopes  connected  with  the  interests  of 
the  soul,  arise  from  an  ignorance  of  the  divine  law. 
When  a  sinful  man  is  found  actually  claiming  ever- 
lasting life  from  the  justice  of  God,  on  the  ground 
that  he  has  done  his  duty,  has  been  guilty  of  no 
harm  to  his  fellow-men,  has  injured  no  one,  and  de- 
frauded no  one,  what  but  total  ignorance  of  the  law 
of  God,  can  have  veiled  his  mind  with  an  expecta- 
tion so  unfounded  and  deceitful  7  While  he  sees 
not  that  his  very  best  acts  stand  in  need  of  pardon- 
ing mercy,  as  much  as  his  vilest  sins  ;  that  the  least 
transgression  of  his  life  entails  upon  him  a  necessary 
and  everlasting  condemnation  ;  that  his  heartless 
prayers,  and  his  omissions  and  failures  in  required 
duty,  will  condemn  him  as  certainly  as  any  of  the 
acts  which  appear  to  him  more  sinful ;  upon  what 
does  his  false  confidence  of  security  rest,  but  upon  a 
total  misapprehension  of  the  nature  of  the  divine 
claims  and  requisitions  of  God's  perfect  law  7 

When  another  man  proclaims  his  hope  to  rest 
upon  the  unbounded  mercy  of  God,  mercy  which  is 
over  all  his  works,  while  he  rejects  from  his  heart, 
the  clear  and  ample  provision  of  mercy  which  is 
offered  to  sinners  in  the  Gospel,  what  but  an  entire 
ignorance  of  the  divine  law  is  the  foundation  of  this 
delusive  expectation  ?  When  a  judge  is  seated  on 
the  bench,  could  the  clearest  evidence  of  guilt  against 
the  criminal,  be  affected  by  his  assertion  of  a  pre- 
vious dependence  upon  the  mercy  which  he  hoped 
to  find  in  the  day  of  trial  7  The  hour  of  trial  is  the 
time  of  law,  not  the  time  of  mercy.  In  the  present 
life,  there  is  abundant  mercy  freely  offered  to  the 


LECT.  II.]   PRACTICAL.  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.  35 

vilest  sinner  ;  nay,  pressed  by  his  offended,  but  gra- 
cious Creator,  upon  his  attention  and  acceptance. 
But  it  is,  as  it  must  be,  mercy  in  God's  own  way, 
and  according  to  the  plan  of  his  own  wisdom. 
When  the  time  of  final  adjudication  and  recom- 
pense has  cojne,  the  reign  of  mercy  has  come  to  an 
end,  and  the  season  for  its  exercise  has  passed  by 
forever.  The  principles  of  just  and  equal  law  must 
then  govern  every  determination.  The  Judge  of  all 
the  earth  must  do  right.  The  man  who  is  there, 
with  sin  previously  unpardoned,  must  endure  the 
death  which  is  the  wages  of  sin.  He  therefore  Avho 
now  pursues  the  path  of  voluntary  transgression, 
and  still  trusts  in  the  mercy  of  his  Judge,  for  a  future 
and  final  pardon,  is  destroyed  by  his  ignorance  of 
the  law,  or  by  his  voluntary  contempt  for  its  de- 
mands. The  claims  of  this  holy  law  must  be  satis- 
fied and  honoured.  It  does  not,  it  cannot  allow  the 
name  of  mercy.  Without  the  shedding  of  blood,  it 
offers  no  remission.  Until  its  penalty  has  been 
paid,  and  all  its  demands  have  been  met  and  an- 
swered, it  is  utterly  vain  to  think  of  charming  its 
denunciations  of  wrath  to  rest.  The  mercy  of  God 
is  displayed  in  his  gracious  method  of  making  satis- 
faction to  the  law  for  the  sinner's  soul.  But  it  can 
never  act  in  setting  aside  the  demands  of  the  law 
upon  man,  while  they  are  still  unsatisfied  ;  and  all 
hope  which  is  founded  upon  such  an  expectation,  is 
delusive  and  false. 

When  others  speak  of  a  vague  and  indefinite  hope 
which  is  resting  partly  upon  their  own  works,  and 
partly  upon  the  merits  of  the  Saviour  to  make  up 
for  the  deficiencies  of  these,  the  same  ignorance  of 
the  law  is  at  the  foundation  of  their  false  confidence. 


36         PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.    [lECT.  II. 

They  avow  their  trust  in  Christ.     But  they  can  give 
no  reason  for  this  trust.     They  have  no  clear  idea 
of  what  he  has  done,  that  should  lead  them  to  this 
confidence.     They  give  no  evidence  that  they  have 
been  really  brought  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  renounce 
themselves,  that  they  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found 
in  him.     They  have  probably  no  distinct  emotion  or 
conception  connected  with  that  faith  in  Christ  which 
they  avow.     For  even  while  they  proclaim  this  hope, 
they  do  not,  and  will  not,  accept  the  salvation  which 
is  offered  in  the  Gospel,  upon  the  terms  which  are 
there  displayed.     They  will  not  renounce  all  works 
of  their  own,  as  at  least,  a  partial  ground  of  hope. 
They  will  not  empty  and  humble  themselves  to  en- 
ter the  kingdom  of  heaven,  at  the  same  gate  with 
publicans   and   harlots.     This   is   too   humiliating. 
Their  proud  hearts  must  have  something  wherein 
to  boast  themselves.    If  they  cannot  make  their  own 
lives,  the  sole  ground  of  their  justification,  they  will 
rely  upon  them  in  part, — or  they  will  make  them 
the  reason,  for  their  confidence  and  hope  in  Christ. 
They  will  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  stripped  of  all 
self-preference,  and   self-respect.     They  know  not 
how  to  glory  only  in  the  cross  of  Christ.     They  have 
never  experienced  or  understood  the  condemning 
power  of  the  law,  nor  felt  the  burden  of  guilt  which 
it  lays  upon  the  sinner's  soul.     And  they  are  in  the 
possession  only  of  a  hope,  whose  whole  foundation  is 
ignorance  of  the  curse  which  has  been  laid  upon 
tr.insgression,  and  of  the  endurance  of  that  curse 
by  the  Son  of  God,  as  the  ransom  for  those  who  be- 
lieve in  him. 

All  these  false  hopes  spring  from  the  same  source. 
They  are  entertained  and  cherished  in  the  muid,  be- 


LECT.  II.]    PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.         37 

cause  it  has  never  been  chastened  by  the  Lord,  and 
taught  by  him,  the  wondrous  things  of  his  law.  Man 
cannot  live  without  hope.  And  Satan,  perfectly 
aware  of  this  fact,  blinds  his  mind  to  the  true  hope 
which  God  presents,  and  urges  upon  him  in  its  stead, 
these  refuges  of  lies.  He  keeps  him  in  ignorance  of 
what  the  Lord  God  hath  spoken,  and  thus  deludes 
him  to  an  embracing  of  these  unfounded  and  impos- 
sible expectations,  as  his  confidence  in  the  day  of  the 
the  Lord's  appearing. 

A  Christian  hope  is  founded  immediately  upon 
Christian  faith.  It  is  a  personal  application,  of  the 
objects  which  faith  discerns,  and  an  appropriation 
of  the  treasures,  which  faith  discloses  in  the  divine 
revelations.  The  faith  w^hich  justifies  the  soul, 
brings  us  simply  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the 
great  end  and  fulfilment  of  the  law,  for  all  who  be- 
lieve. It  teaches  us,  our  own  condemnation  under 
the  law,  and  leads  us,  emptied  of  all  confidence  in 
our  own  works,  to  rest  ourselves  wholly,  upon  his 
past  and  finished  work  of  substitution  in  our  behalf. 
If  we  attempt  to  blend  in  any  measure  or  degree, 
anything  of  our  own,  with  the  w'ork  of  Christ's  re- 
demption, we  make  utterly  void,  all  that  he  has  done 
and  suffered  in  our  stead.  Christ  has  thus  become 
of  no  effect  to  us  ;  and  so  far  as  w^e  are  concerned, 
he  has  died  in  vain.  The  law  presents  two  distinct 
claims  as  made  upon  every  sinner,  wdiich  must  be 
met  and  answered,  before  he  can  have  a  hope  of  ac- 
ceptance with  Gk)d.  It  denounces  death  as  the  pun- 
ishment of  sins  past ;  and  it  requires  a  spotless  obe- 
dience as  the  title  to  future  reward.  It  thus  guards 
the  way  to  the  tree  of  life  with  a  flaming  sword 
which  turns  every  way  in  opposition  to  the  sinner's 


38  PRACTICAL    INFLUENCE    OF   THE    LAW.         [lECT.  II. 

approach.  The  answers  to  these  claims  can  never 
be  found  in  the  sinner  himself.  But  faith  discerns 
them  both,  and  in  their  utmost  possible  value,  in  the 
sinner's  Saviour.  God  hath  set  forth  his  Son,  to  be 
a  propitiation  for  sins  past,  and  to  declare  his  right- 
eousness, in  the  justifying  of  the  ungodly.  In  this 
abundant  provision  for  the  pardon  of  sins  past, — 
and  for  the  everlasting  justification  of  the  pardoned 
soul,  faith  discerns  a  full  foundation  of  hope.  It 
perceives  the  law  to  be  completely  satisfied  and 
honoured,  and  the  hope  which  it  offers  in  this  satis- 
faction of  the  law  by  the  Lord  our  righteousness,  is 
sure,  reasonable,  and  satisfying  to  the  soul.  It  rests 
upon  a  clear  perception  of  what  Christ  has  done, 
and  of  what  the  law  required  to  be  done.  And  all 
the  blessedness  which  there  is  in  such  a  hope,  be- 
comes the  portion  of  those  whom  the  Lord  chasten- 
eth,  and  teacheth  out  of  his  law. 

These  views  sufficiently  display  the  practical  in- 
fluence of  a  knowledge  of  the  law.  Ignorance  of  it, 
and  false  apprehensions  of  it,  are  the  root  of  all  su- 
perficial views  and  statements  of  doctrine,  with 
which  the  Christian  community  is  filled.  An  un- 
derstanding of  it,  is  of  vital  consequence  in  the  great 
concern  of  your  soul's  salvation.  O,  seek  from  God, 
the  instruction  out  of  his  law  which  he  imparts. 
Let  his  Holy  Spirit  deliver  you  from  darkness,  and 
lead  you  to  a  knowledge  of  his  truth  in  this  all-in- 
volving concern.  Let  the  day-spring  from  on  high 
guide  your  feet  into  the  way  of  peace.  Seek  wis- 
dom from  above, — practical,  experimental  wisdom, 
and  seek  it  with  all  your  hearts  :— that  you  may  not 
walk  in  the  blindness  of  your  minds,  with  your  un- 
understandings  darkened,  through  the  ignorance  that 


LECT.  II.]    PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  LAW.         39 

is  in  you.  Give  your  earnest  attention  to  an  under- 
standing of  this  vital  portion  of  the  truth  of  God ;  and 
under  his  guidance,  your  affections  will  be  sanctified 
and  elevated,  your  minds  opened  and  instructed,  and 
your  hearts  led  to  embrace  the  everlasting  consola- 
tions w^hich  are  laid  up  in  his  dear  Son.  Thus  will 
you  gain  a  hope  which  maketh  not  ashamed ;  a  hope 
founded  upon  the  finished  and  unchangeable  work 
of  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord ;  and  believing  in  him, 
and  loving  him,  though  now  you  see  him  not,  you 
shall  rejoice  in  him,  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory. 


LECTURE   III. 

THE  SPIRITUALITY  OF  THE  LAW. 

We  know  that  the  law  is  spiritual. — Romans  vii.  14. 

In  a  contemplation  of  the  operation  of  the  divine 
law  upon  man,  one  of  the  first  and  most  important 
topics  for  our  remark,  is  its  own  character,  and  the 
actual  extent  of  its  demands.  This  -aspect  of  it,  is 
habitually  called  by  us,  the  spirituality  of  the  law. 
Of  this,  the  apostle  speaks  in  our  present  text. 
Though  he  describes  the  operation  of  the  law,  as 
destroying  all  the  hopes  which  he  indulged  of  merit 
or  safety  in  his  unconverted  state,  and  thus,  as  work- 
ing death  for  him,  he  proclaims  it  to  be  in  all  respects, 
holy,  just  and  good ;  and  producing  death  to  a  sinner, 
solely  in  a  just  action  upon  his  unholy  character  and 
guilty  life.  He  confesses  that  man  in  his  natural 
state  is  carnal,  and  a  slave  to  sin,  and  declares  that 
all  the  apparent  ill  effects  of  the  operation  of  the 
law  upon  him,  are  to  be  attributed  to  this  fact  alone. 
The  law  itself  is  spiritual  and  holy. 

I.  But  what  law  is  it,  of  which  the  apostle  makes 
this  assertion  ?  We  must  answer,  it  is  exclusively 
that  great  moral  law,  which  is  now  before  us,  as  the 
subject  of  this  series  of  discourses.  The  assertion 
cannot  be  applied  to  any  other  law,  without  much 
qualification. 

The  Judicial  law  which  was  appointed  for  the 


LECT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  41 

Israelites,  though  it  was  founded  upon  the,  moral 
law  of  God,  was  but  the  peculiar  statute  law  of  that 
nation.  It  never  had,  nor  was  it  designed  to  have, 
the  least  authority  over  any  other  of  the  families  of 
men,  unless  they  became  incorporated  by  their  own 
profession  as  members  of  the  nation  of  Israel.  In 
no  sense,  but  in  its  origin  from  God,  was  it  a  spiritual 
law.  Like  all  other  laws  for  the  mere  outward 
government  of  man,  its  requisitions  and  prohibitions 
took  cognizance  merely  of  outward  acts  ;  and  rec- 
ompensed obedience  or  disobedience,  respectively 
with  temporal  protection,  or  bodily  suffering  and 
death.  This  law  cannot  be  said  to  be  annulled  or 
repealed  in  regard  to  other  nations,  for  it  never  had 
authority  over  them.  The  limits  of  its  application 
were  the  natural  and  the  adopted  children  of  Israel. 
What  its  permanency  of  authority  over  them  may  be, 
it  does  not  come  within  my  present  purpose  to  con- 
sider. 

The  ceremonial  or  ecclesiastical  law  which  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  same  people,  enjoined  the  rites  and 
observances  of  a  form  of  religious  worship^  which 
was  established  for  them  alone.  This  cannot  justly 
be  called  a  spiritual  law,  though  its  ordinances  had 
an  important  spiritual  meaning,  and  were  certainly 
designed  to  instruct  the  believing  mind  in  spiritual 
things.  St.  Paul  calls  it,  "  a  law  of  carnal  command- 
ments," which  made  nothing  perfect ;  and  speaks  of 
its  ordinances  as  "  carnal  ordinances  "  imposed  upon 
the  people  of  Israel  for  a  time.  St.  Peter  calls  it  a 
yoke  which  neither  they,  nor  their  fathers  were  able 
to  bear.  It  was  a  system  of  shadows,  under  which 
were  represented  to  the  mind  endowed  with  spiritual 
discernment,  the  great  truths  and  realities  of  the 


42  .  SPIRITUALITY    OF    TH3    LAW.  [lECT.  III. 

Gospel.  In  itself  it  could  make  nothing  perfect.  It 
was  like  the  judicial  law  of  Israel,  confined  in  its  ap- 
plication to  the  members  of  that  one  nation,  and  was 
intended  to  lead  them  to  that  blessed  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, in  whom  all  its  figures  and  appointments  were 
fulfilled. 

The  great  moral  law  of  God,  was  imbodied  in 
the  national  institutes  for  Israel ; — though-  in  itself 
entirely  separable,  from  all  that  was  merely  local 
and  temporary  in  its  authority  over  them.  It  is  of 
this  divine  system  of  precepts,  that  the  psalmist 
says,  "  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the 
soul ; — and  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes."  It  is  to 
this,  that  the  apostle  refers,  when  he  declares  in  our 
text,  as  a  principle  which  was  to  be  considered  be- 
yond the  reach  of  doubt, — "  We  know  that  the  law 
is  spiritual."  This  was  ordained  to  life.  Obedi- 
ence to  its  precepts  would  have  conferred  life  upon 
man  ; — and  it  is  only  as  the  result  of  man's  own 
transgression,  that  it  is  found  to  be  unto  death. 
This  law  is  spotless  and  holy ;  and  every  command- 
ment which  it  imposes,  is  holy,  just,  and  good.  It 
was  comprised,  in  the  ten  commandments  which 
were  written  upon  tables  of  stone,  by  the  finger  of 
God.  It  was  communicated  to  Israel,  on  Mount 
Sinai,  with  a  majesty  which  well  became  its  import- 
ance and  character.  The  peculiar  laws  of  Israel  as 
a  nation  were  subsequently  proclaimed  in  many  suc- 
cessive communications.  This  was  a  special  reve- 
lation of  the  will  of  God,  upon  which  all  other  pre- 
cepts were  founded.  It  was  comprised  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  two  commandments,  embracing 
supreme  love  to  God,  and  universal  love  to  his  crea- 
tures.    It  is  deblared  by  St.  Paul  in  its  one  funda- 


LEOT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  43 

metal  principle,  when  he  says,  "  love  is  the  fulfilling 
of  the  law." 

This  great  law  is  the  law  of  heaven,  and  to  it 
every  heavenly  being  is  subjected.  It  was  published 
first  on  earth,  when  it  was  written  upon  the  heart 
of  man  at  his  creation.  Its  governing  principles  and 
power  were  obliterated  then,  by  man's  transgression, 
— and  it  was  published  again,  written  by  the  finger 
of  God,  upon  tables  of  stone,  at  Mount  Sinai.  It 
was  added  then  anew,  to  display  the  holy  character 
of  God ;  to  exhibit  the  sinfulness,  and  the  abound- 
ing extent,  of  man's  transgression  ; — to  manifest  the 
universal  necessity  for  the  promised  seed,  who  should 
fulfil  its  obligations,  and  bear  its  penalty  for  man.  It 
was  accordingly  announced  before  the  peculiar,  pri- 
vate institutions  for  Israel  were  imposed,  because  it 
was  the  foundation  of  all  other  commands ;  and  their 
acknowledgment  of  the  authority  of  this,  was  a  con- 
cession of  the  right  of  God  to  impose  upon  them  any 
subsequent  precepts,  which  should  be  according  to 
his  will.  It  displayed  most  clearly  the  impossibility 
of  man's  attainment  of  life  by  any  obedience  of  his 
own,  and  thus  shut  them  up  for  all  their  hope,  to 
the  faith  which  should  be  revealed,  when  in  the  ful- 
ness of  the  time,  God  should  send  forth  Iiis  Son. 

The  character  and  extent  of  this  holy  law  is  de- 
scribed in  our  text.  It  requires  entire  submission 
to  the  will  of  the  Creator ;  and  is  as  obligatory  upon 
Gentiles  as  upon  Jews : — and  as  binding  in  heaven, 
as  upon  earth.  Of  this,  is  the  declaration  of  our 
text  so  solemnly  and  distinctly  made,  ''  We  know 
that  the  law  is  spiritual."  This  attribute  of  the  law 
IS  a  fundamental  truth  ; — as  evident  as  the  same  at- 
tribute of  God,  of  whose  holy  mind  and  character  it 


44  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  III. 

is  a  perfect  transcript  and  expression.  The  spiritu- 
ality of  the  law  which  it  declares,  we  are  now  to 
consider. 

II.  "  We  know  that  the  law  is  spiritual." 
1.  It  is  spiritual  in  its  origin.  It  flowed  from  no 
human  or  inferior  source,  but  immediately  from  the 
mind  of  that  High  and  Holy  Being,  who  is  himself 
a  spirit, — and  whom  no  eye  hath  seen,  or  can  see. 
It  is  in  its  principles  and  precepts,  but  a  copy  in 
words,  of  the  will  and  character  of  God.  A  perfect 
conformity  to  its  commands,  would  be  a  perfect  con- 
formity to  the  holy  character  of  God.  It  was  first 
proclaimed,  when  the  first  creature  was  formed. 
Then  the  will  of  God  was  first  declared,  as  the  rule 
of  government  for  the  beings  whom  he  had  made.  In 
the  heavenly  world,  it  is  binding  upon  pure  spirits 
alone,  and  the  love  for  God  and  for  each  other,  which 
moves  innumerable  holy  beings  there,  is  the  fulfilling 
of  this  law.  There  its  origin,  and  operation,  and 
fruits  are  all  spiritual.  Ten  thousand  times  ten 
tliousand  spotless  spirits  admire,  reverence,  and  love 
it,  as  the  mirror,  in  which  the  infinitely  glorious  per- 
fections of  the  Deity  are  continually  beheld.  He 
speaks,  and  it  is  done ;  he  commands,  and  his  will 
stands  fast. 

This  law  was  communicated  immediately  from 
God  to  man.  It  was  written  in  his  mind  and  heart 
at  his  creation,  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  When  man 
first  opened  his  eyes  upon  the  beauties  and  benefits, 
with  which  his  Divine  Creator  had  been  pleased  to 
surround  him,  this  spiritual  law  upon  his  heart,  led 
him  to  lift  up  his  immediate  offering  of  pure  and  per- 
fect love  to  the  Lord  of  all,  and  to  delight  in  every 
act  of  homage  to  his  will.     This  same  holy  law  has 


LECT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OF  THE    LAW.  45 

been  written  since  by  the  same  Spirit  in  the  soul  of 
every  child  of  God  among  redeemed  men,  in  the 
hour  in  which  he  was  brought  back  from  his  death 
in  sin,  to  a  life  of  new  obedience  to  God.  And  all 
the  renewed  servants  of  the  most  High,  perceive  and 
admire  its  perfections,  and  delight  to  fulfil  its  holy 
commandments.  The  purity  and  excellence  of  the 
law,  which  the  Spirit  of  God  thus  teaches  man, 
when  he  writes  it  upon  his  heart,  is  one  of  those 
things  which  the  natural  man  discerneth  not,  and  is 
not  able  to  understand.  In  its  origin  within  his  soul, 
it  is  ever  and  wholly  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
By  the  same  Spirit,  it  was  revealed  to  holy  men 
who  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
as  the  authors  of  those  Scriptures  which  were  given 
by  inspiration  of  God, — and  in  the  precepts  of  which, 
this  holy  law  is  recorded  for  the  government  of  man. 
Whatever  period  or  occasion  of  its  revelation,  we 
may  particularly  consider,  the  spiritual  origin  of  the 
law  is  the  same.  It  is  written  by  the  finger  of  God, 
and  from  himself  proclaims  his  mind  and  will. 

2.  The  law  is  spiritual  in  its  demands.  It  is 
wholly  a  mistaken  view,  which  limits  these  divine 
revelations  to  the  letter  of  the  precepts, — or  to  the 
outward  conduct  of  men.  The  external  acts  to 
w^hich  the  divine  precepts  refer,  whether  they  are 
of  sins  forbidden,  or  of  duties  commanded,  are  surely 
included  in  their  intended  application.  But  they 
cannot  be  understood  as  the  limits  of  this  applica- 
tion. These  precepts  refer  as  certainly  to  the  de- 
sires and  purposes  of  the  heart,  and  the  thoughts  of 
the  mind,  as  they  do  to  the  open  conduct  of  the  life. 
They  lay  the  hand  of  their  authority  upon  the  inner 
man.     They  distinctly  reveal  to  man  what  God  re- 


46  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  III. 

quires,  and  they  demand  the  unqualified  and  uniform 
obedience  to  every  precept,  in  the  heart  which  he 
searches.  If  man  were  in  a  condition  shut  out  from 
the  possibility  of  outward  breaches  of  divine  com- 
mands ;  nay,  if  he  were  without  the  body,  with 
which  they  are  perpetrated,  the  law  of  God  would 
still  impose  upon  him  the  same  obligations,  and 
make  the  same  demands.  The  principle  of  obedi- 
ence, is  that  to  which  the  law  directs  its  notice  and 
its  operation.  It  requires  everywhere  total  and  un- 
broken submission  to  the  will  of  God.  The  changes 
of  occasional  relations  to  other  created  beings,  can- 
not alter  the  obligation  of  this  simple  principle  of 
entire  subjection  to  the  will  of  God.  The  demands 
of  the  law  are  in  their  extent,  spiritual.  The 
thoughts  and  purposes  which  lead  to  outward  vio- 
lations of  these  precepts,  are  as  really  violations  of 
them  also,  as  are  the  results  to  which  they  tend. 
When  the  law  forbids  a  single  transgression,  it 
equally  forbids  every  thought,  and  occupation,  and 
feeling  which  would  naturally  lead  to  its  commis- 
sion. And  when  it  commands  a  duty,  it  equally 
enjoins  every  circumstance  and  habit  which  proper- 
ly conduces  to  its  performance.  Even  more  exten- 
sively than  this, — in  the  very  prohibition  of  a  trans- 
gression, it  requires  the  contrary  duty  ;  and  in  the 
injunction  of  a  duty,  it  forbids  the  opposite  sin.  The 
commandment  of  God  is  thus  exceeding  broad,  and 
like  a  two-edged  sword,  divides  asunder,  and  dis- 
cerns, the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  It 
goes  thus  directly  to  the  hidden  fountain  of  the  char- 
acter, and  requires  the  inward  cleansing  of  the  soul 
in  entire  conformity  to  the  purity  of  God.  If  it 
were  possible,  that  any  one  had  been  perfectly  obe- 


LECT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  47 

dient  to  God,  in  every  feeling,  desire,  and  act  of  the 
whole  life,  and  in  but  one  single  thought  had  re- 
belled against  him,  that  sinful  thought  would  anni- 
hilate the  worth  of  the  whole  obedience,  with  which 
it  was  connected.  The  man  has  thus  become  a  sin- 
ner, and  having  offended  in  one  point,  is  guilty  of  all, 
or  wholly  guilty,  in  the  judgment  of  the  law.  This 
was  the  case  with  the  first^itransgressor,  in  whom  a 
single  sin  destroyed  the  whole  covenant  of  life,  un- 
der which  he  had  been  placed.  The  character  of 
man  has  changed, — but  the  law  has  not.  It  is  still 
equally  spiritual  in  its  demands,  requiring  in  every 
heart,  a  submission  to  God,  uninterrupted  by  a  single 
insurgent  feeling,  a  purity  of  character  uncontami- 
nated  by  a  single  stain,  and  a  zeal  of  devotion  un- 
relaxed  by  a  single  wandering  purpose.  The  law 
of  God  has  no  partial  operation  for  the  earth.  It 
requires  the  same  character  throughout  the  universe. 
That  which  angels  have  always  been  in  heaven,  it 
requires  men  to  be,  from  their  birth,  and  forever. 
Its  searching  precepts  go  directly  to  the  heart,  and 
are  to  be  obeyed  there,  in  a  perfect  exhibition  of  the 
mind  of  Christ,  and  a  perfect  exemplification  of  the 
holiness  of  God.  This  is  the  spiritual  character  of 
the  law  in  its  demands.  Uniform  love  with  all  the 
heart,  and  that  forever,  constitutes  the  only  fulfil- 
ment of  its  precepts. 

3.  The  law  is  spiritual  in  its  operations.  It  was 
originally  ordained  to  be  a  covenant  of  life ; — its  de- 
signed operation  was,  in  an  unceasingly  holy  and 
animating  guidance  of  man,  to  lead  him  to  a  perfect 
conformity  to  the  will  of  God.  It  was  a  pure  and 
sacred  friend  and  supporter  of  its  subjects.  It  taught 
them,  what  their  Creator  required  of  them ;   and 


48  SPIRITUALITY    OF   THE    LAW.  [leCT.  IIL 

warned  them  of  what  he  had  forbidden.  It  checked 
them  in  every  temptation  to  transgress ;  it  encouraged 
them  in  every  path  of  obedience.  In  the  keeping 
of  its  precepts,  it  gave  them  great  rew^ard.  But  the 
disobedience  of  man  changed  the  whple  operation 
of  the  law  towards  him  ;  and  gave  it  a  new  course 
and  purpose.  It  can  never  be  the  friend  of  sinners. 
It  comes  now  with  no  offer  of  life.  It  remains  faith- 
ful to  God,  though  man  has  been  unfaithful,  and 
stands  forth  as  a  swift  witness  against  all  who  have 
rebelled  against  him.  With  the  sinner,  its  whole 
operation  is  to  convince  him  of  his  guilt; — to  judge 
him  as  thus  guilty  ;  to  condemn  him  to  death ; — and 
then  to  leave  him  to  perish.  It  comes  to  him  in  the 
majesty  of  divine  authority,  and  with  distinct  and 
undeniable  accusations,  for  this  two-fold  purpose  of 
conviction  and  judgment.  In  this  work  of  power, 
it  lays  out  before  his  conscience,  the  extent  of  its 
own  claims  ;  and  places  by  their  side,  the  enormity 
of  his  transgressions.  It  shews  him  what  God  re- 
quires ;  and  then  it  shews  him  what  he  has  done. 
Thus  laying  open  before  him  his  aggravated  guilt, 
it  convinces  him  of  the  truth  ^f  its  charges  against 
him,  and  of  the  justice  of  his  condemnation.  It  stops 
his  mouth  from  all  excuses.  It  compels  him  in  deep 
humiliation  to  acknowledge  himself  unclean  ; — and 
then  stands  forth  in  the  name  of  the  most  High,  to 
pass  a  final  sentence  upon  his  soul.  It  proclaims 
the  eternal  wages  of  sin.  It  announces  the  certainty 
of  a  coming  wrath.  It  unveils  before  him,  an  unut- 
terable and  everlasting  destruction.  It  strips  off  the 
covering  from  the  devouring  fire.  And  thus,  laying 
judgment  to  the  line  of  its  holy  and  unrelaxing  de- 
mands, it  destroys  the  hope  of  the  sinful  soul,  anil 


LECT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OP   THE    LAW.  49 

compels  the  convicted  transgressor  to  cry  out  in  the 
bitterness  of  his  anguish,  "  O,  wretched  man  that  I 
am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death  7"  This  is  the  spiritual  operation  of  the  law. 
Here  its  work  ceases.  It  cannot  go  beyond  this 
limit ; — convincing  the  transgressor  of  his  guilt ; 
pronouncing  his  everlasting  condemnation ;  and  then 
leaving  him  to  perish.  This  has  been  its  actual 
operation  upon  every  servant  of  God  who  has  been 
redeemed  from  his  iniquity,  and  reconciled  to  him. 
In  his  experience,  the  power  of  the  commandment 
has  slain  and  destroyed  all  self-confidence,  all  hope 
in  any  righteousness  of  his  own ;  and  condemned 
under  its  righteous  sentence,  he  can  say,  "  I  know 
that  the  law  is  spiritual."  In  its  origin,  its  demands, 
and  its  operation,  this  is  the  spirituality  of  the  law, 
which  perhaps  these  views  of  it  sufficiently  display. 

III.  There  are  certain  practical  purposes  of  great 
consequence,  to  which  the  consideration  of  this  sub- 
ject will  properly  lead  us. 

It  is  adapted  to  produce  in  us  a  deep  humiliation. 
It  casts  out  the  pride  and  boasting  of  the  very  holiest 
among  men,  and  brings  down  every  soul  in  the 
deepest  prostration  before  God.  In  regard  to  gross 
outward  violations  of  the  commands  of  God,  you 
may  be  comparatively  blameless.  According  to  the 
judgment  of  men,  you  may  have  lived  in  strict  con- 
formity to  the  divine  will.  But  who  has  rendered 
to  God  the  honour  which  is  due  to  him,  and  counted 
everything  else  as  worthless  in  comparison  with 
him  7  When  you  consider  that  spotless  line  of  life 
which  the  law  imposes,  in  the  different  relations  of 
man,  who  is  not  compelled  to  acknowledge,  that  his 
transgressions  are  multiplied,  beyond  his  power  to 

3 


50  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  III. 

compute  them  ?  When  you  add  to  these,  the  un- 
holy tempers  and  dispositions  which  you  have  exer- 
cised and  indulged ;  the  evil  thoughts  which  you 
have  allowed  and  harboured ;  the  failures  in  duty^ 
of  which  you  are  conscious  ;  who  does  not  blush  to 
lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  a.shamed  and  confounded 
in  the  holy  presence  of  God  who  searcheth  the 
heart  ?  And  yet  the  mere  calculation  of  what  we 
have  done,  or  left  undone,  would  give  a  very  inade- 
quate view  of  the  sinfulness  of  our  characters.  We 
must  take  the  elevated  and  spotless  standard  of  di- 
vine commandments^  and  see  how  infinitely  short 
we  have  come  of  the  spirit  of  their  intention,  in 
every  act  of  our  lives,  and  in  every  moment  of  our 
existence.  We  must  trace  the  whole  state  of  our 
souls  from  the  beginning  of  our  lives,  and  estimate  it 
by  this  unbending  standard.  And  we  shall  see,  that 
our  whole  attainments  in  obedience,  have  been  as 
nothing,  literally  nothing,  in  comparison  with  our 
failures  and  our  defects.  The  poorest  bankrupt  that 
ever  lived,  has  discharged  a  larger  portion  of  his  debt 
to  men,  than  we  have  of  our  debt  to  God.  His  state 
in  his  relation,  is  far  better  than  yours ;  for  you  have 
been  still  increasing  your  debt,  every  hour,  and  every 
moment  of  your  lives.  The  very  best  works  of  the 
best  of  men,  if  tried  thus  by  the  touchstone  of  God's 
perfect  law,  would  be  in  themselves,  but  an  accu- 
mulation of  guilt  against  the  day  of  wrath.  There 
is  in  them  no  good  thing.  And  the  more  clearly 
they  see  the  excellence  of  the  law,  the  more  deeply 
will  they  feel  humbled,  under  the  conviction  of  this 
fact. 

This  self-abasins^  view  of  our  own  character  is  in- 
dispensable.     We  must  cast  aside  every  delusive 


LECT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  51 

plea  of  comparative  innocence  and  harmlessness, — 
and  judge  ourselves  as  we  are  judged  by  the  Lord. 
By  this  judgment  we  must  abide  forever  ;  and  if  we 
come  unpardoned  under  its  power,  the  doom  which 
it  assigns,  is  absolute  and  unchangeable.  When  the 
book  of  his  remembrance  is  laid  open,  the  secrets  of 
your  hearts  will  be  brought  to  light — your  own  con- 
sciences will  attest  the  truth  of  the  divine  accusa- 
tions, and  the  equity  of  the  sentence  which  God 
shall  pronounce.  In  the  action  of  this  spiritual  and 
holy  law,  there  can  be  no  respect  of  persons.  Its 
judgments  will  be  severe  in  proportion  to  advantages 
which  have  been  neglected  and  unimproved.  O, 
that  God  may  enable  you  to  understand,  and  to  con- 
sider well,  these  solemn  truths !  May  he  enable  you 
in  entire  self-abasement,  and  humility  of  mind,  to 
cast  yourselves  in  the  very  dust  before  him,  under 
the  burden  of  your  conscious  guilt ! 

This  view  of  the  spiritual  character  of  the  law, 
shows  the  fallacy  of  all  attempts  in  man  to  establish 
a  righteousness  before  God  by  works  of  his  own. 
There  is  not  a  single  divine  precept  which  does  not 
testify  against  our  guilt  before  the  throne  of  God. 
There  is  not  a  single  precept  which  will  relax  its 
purity  or  its  obligation  on  our  account.  It  is  a  vain 
idea,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  lowered  the 
demands  of  the  law,  that  they  might  be  brought 
within  the  compass  of  man's  infirmity,  and  he  be 
thus  enabled  to  comply  with  them.  Surely  there 
is  nothing  in  his  instructions  to  sanction  such  an 
idea; — He  has  summed  up  the  decalogue  in  the 
blessed  precepts  of  love, — but  in  neither  of  them, 
has  he  set  aside  the  obligations  of  a  single  command. 
Has  he  made  any  abatement  in  their  demands  7 


52  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  III. 

Did  the  law  require  too  much  of  man,  before  his 
coming  1  How  was  it  then,  holy,  just,  and  good  ? 
Did  it  only  require  exactly  what  was  due  from  man 
to  God  1  How  then  could  the  Saviour  reduce  these 
demands,  without  robbing  God  of  the  obedience 
which  was  really  due  from  his  creatures  7  Nay, — 
how  can  God  ever  lower  the  holy  demands  of  his 
righteous  law  1  How  can  he  divest  himself  of  his 
glory,  or  give  his  creatures  a  liberty  to  violate  his 
will?  His  law  is  necessarily  unchangeable,  like 
himself.  It  is  the  simple  expression  of  his  own 
mind  and  character.  And  the  obligation  to  love  him 
with  supreme  and  undivided  affection,  is  an  immu- 
table obligation  upon  every  rational  creature.  It  is 
a  demand  necessarily  unalterable  forever.  And  if 
any  man  would  obtain  a  righteousness  by  works  of 
his  own,  he  must  obey  it  perfectly  in  act  and  spirit, 
and  that  forever.  Because  this  is  utterly  impossible 
for  man  who  is  a  transgressor  from  his  birth,  the 
very  thought  of  obtaining  acceptance  with  God  by 
any  works  of  the  law,  must  be  given  up  by  every 
soul  of  man.  From  this  you  are  driven  forever.  If 
you  would  be  saved  at  all,  it  must  be  in  some  other 
method  than  this.  You  must  have  some  other  right- 
eousness, more  commensurate  with  the  holy  de- 
mands of  the  law,  and  more  consistent  with  the 
unchanging  honour  of  the  law-giver ; — a  righteous- 
ness which  can  magnify  the  law,  and  make  it  hon- 
ourable. Such  an  obedience  is  fully  provided  for 
you,  and  freely  offered  to  you,  in  the  perfect  and 
meritorious  subjection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  the  law 
in  your  behalf  In  him  you  may  be  justified  and 
glory.  But  in  every  act  of  obedience  of  your  own, 
you  will  be  found  wanting,  and  will  be  condemned. 


LECT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  53 

The  distinct  understanding  of  this  subject,  is  of 
the  utmost  consequence.  The  simple  assertion  of 
the  text  ought  to  be  the  language  of  your  own  ex- 
perience, "  We  know  that  the  law  is  spiritual."  And 
yet,  of  what  are  men  more  generally  ignorant,  than 
of  this  vital  subject?  Unwilling  to  acknowledge 
themselves  justly  condemned,  and  yet  unable  to  deny 
their  violations  of  divine  commandments,  they  would 
reduce  the  holiness  of  the  law  to  their  own  standard, 
rather  than  seek,  out  of  themselves,  a  righteousness 
which  shall  meet  it.  They  are  anxious  to  lessen 
their  undeniable  criminality  before  God,  and  to  do 
this,  they  would  charge  his  commandments  with 
unreasonable  strictness,  and  thus  make  him  a  par- 
taker of  their  guilt.  All  this  effort  however,  though 
it  may  delude  themselves,  cannot  deceive  him.  You 
must  settle  it  in  your  minds,  as  an  indisputable  and 
fundamental  fact,  that  this  spiritual,  searching  nature 
of  the  divine  law,  must  remain  unchanged  forever. 
By  understanding  and  feeling  the  truth  of  this,  you 
will  be  able  to  comprehend  the  purposes  which  the 
law^  designs ;  and  the  uses  and  operations,  to  which 
it  is  directed  by  the  Divine  Lawgiver.  Such  a 
knowledge  and  understanding  will  wean  you  from 
all  vain  confidence  in  yourselves ;  will  persuade  you 
to  cease  from  man  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils ; 
will  compel  you  to  lay  aside  every  notion  that  you 
have  anything  to  offer  unto  God ;  and  urge  you  to 
look  for,  and  to  receive,  that  blessed  provided  right- 
eousness in  Christ  the  Lord,  which  enables  you  to 
answer  the  utmost  demands  of  the  lawgiver  upon 
your  souls.  This  actual  obedience  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  is  freely  offered  to  every  penitent  and  believ- 


54  SPIRITUALITY    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  III. 

ing  soul.  Destitute  of  it,  you  remain  under  an  un- 
satisfied curse;  and  exposed  to  the  just  anger  of 
God,  in  every  moment  of  your  lives.  You  are  with- 
out hope  or  peace.  The  law  which  condemns  you  is 
spiritual,  and  you  are  carnal,  sold  under  sin.  It  sen- 
tences you  to  death,  and  delivers  you  over  unto 
wrath,  in  every  single  precept  which  it  contains. 
It  is  the  extreme  of  infatuation,  to  look  to  its  possi- 
ble approval,  for  justification  and  life.  It  w41l  be 
certain  and  everlasting  death  to  venture  into  judg- 
ment before  God,  upon  the  foundation  of  any  obedi- 
ence of  your  own  to  its  requirements. 

These  may  appear  to  you,  hard  sayings.  The 
Spirit  of  God  alone,  can  enable  you  to  receive  them. 
He  only  can  subdue  your  pride  and  vain  confidence, 
and  shew  to  you,  that  by  the  very  law  to  which  you 
foolishly  cling,  you  are  inevitably  condemned  and 
ruined.  O,  that  this  convincing  agency  of  the  law 
by  the  powxr  of  the  Spirit,  might  be  received  and 
exercised  in  the  conscience  of  all  who  listen  to 
me !  That  you  might  be  compelled  to  cry  out,  un- 
der its  weight  and  influence,  "  God  be  merciful  to  us 
sinners  !"  That  you  could  be  constrained,  in  this 
view  of  the  unbending  and  impossible  demands  of 
the  law  of  God,  not  only  to  ask  in  anxiety,  "  What 
shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  but  to  renounce  all  hope  of 
salvation  by  doings  of  every  kind,  and  freely  and 
thankfully  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
is  himself,  righteousness  and  salvation  to  every  soul 
that  seeks  him.  In  him,  being  justified  by  faith,  you 
have  peace  with  God;  and  resting  not  upon  your* 
own  obedience  to  the  law  of  righteousness,  but  upon 
his ;  having  fulfilled  it  in  him,  you  are  renewed  after 


LECT.  III.]  SPIRITUALITY    OP   THE    LAW.  95 

its  image,  and  enabled  to  honour  and  adorn  it,  walk- 
ing not  according  to  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit. 
This  is  the  divine  provision  in  your  behalf,  which 
fully  meets,  and  everlastingly  honours,  the  spiritual 
and  holy  law  of  the  most  High  God. 


LECTURE  IV. 

THE  PRESENT  USE  OP  THE  LAW. 

Wherefore  then  serveth  the  law  1 — Galatians,  hi.  19. 

The  law  of  which  the  apostle  here  speaks  is  the 
moral  law  ;  that  perfect  rule  of  obedience  to  the  di- 
vine Creator,  which  is  imposed  upon  every  intelli- 
gent and  responsible  creature.  He  is  treating  of  the 
free  and  perfect  justification  of  sinful  man,  according 
to  the  provisions  of  grace  which  are  announced  in 
the  Gospel.  He  teaches  the  great  fact,  that  God 
announced  these  provisions  of  grace,  as  the  only 
foundation  of  human  hope,  and  the  only  means  of 
security  to  the  guilty,  long  before  the  Saviour's  in- 
carnation, and  ages  previous  to  the  introduction  of 
the  Jewish  dispensation.  This  was  the  Gospel 
which  God  preached  unto  Abraham,  who  believed 
its  promises  and  was  justified  by  his  faith.  By  the 
same  instrumentality  of  faith  in  the  truth  and  power 
of  God,  all  who  in  subsequent  ages  believed,  were 
justified  with  faithful  Abraham.  But  no  man  was 
ever  justified  by  his  own  obedience, — or  made  just 
in  the  sight  of  God  by  his  relation  to  the  law  ;  for 
the  law  brings  upon  man  who  is  always  a  sinner 
under  it,  nothing  but  a  ciu-se.  This  is  the  argument 
of  the  apostle,  in  the  comparison  which  he  institutes 
between  the  promise  of  grace  giving  life  to  faith  in 


LECT.  IV.]       PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.  57 

the  divine  covenant,  and  the  law  of  commandments 
uttering  death  upon  every  transgression.  His  con- 
clusion is,  that  the  publication  of  the  law,  which 
was  long  subsequent  to  the  establishment  of  this 
covenant  of  grace,  can  have  no  influence  to  change 
the  system  of  salvation  for  the  fallen  and  guilty, 
which  God  had  previously  proclaimed. 

But  an  objection  is  made  to  this  conclusion,  and 
the  question  in  our  text  proposes  it.  If  the  heav- 
enly inheritance  is  only  to  be  obtained  by  grace 
through  a  free  promise  to  the  guilty,  and  not  by 
man's  obedience  to  the  commands  of  the  law, 
"wherefore  then  serveth  the  law?" 

The  point  to  which  this  question  is  directed,  is 
very  precise.  It  is  not,  what  was  the  original  use 
of  the  law  when  man  was  innocent  7  Or,  what  is 
its  abstract  purpose  with  beings  who  are  not  guilty '? 
But,  what  could  be  the  design  of  publishing  it  again, 
under  a  dispensation  of  grace  already  revealed'? 
If  man  is  to  gain  no  justification  by  his  obedience 
to  it,  why  is  it  thus  proclaimed  to  him  7  The  ob- 
jection seemed  perfectly  just  to  the  reason  of  man. 
He  could  understand  the  simple  proposition,  if  you 
do  this,  you  shall  live.  But  he  could  not  under- 
stand the  proposition,  you  are  still  to  do  it,  but  you 
cannot  live  by  it.  The  objection  is  still  frequently 
urged,  if  our  obedience  is  not  to  justify  us,  why  are 
we  to  obey  1  Why  may  we  not  live  in  sin,  that 
grace  may  abound  1  We  will  consider  this  objec- 
tion, in  the  subject  now  before  us — the  use  of  the 
law  under  the  dispensation  of  gra^e.  Why  was  it 
added  ?    Why  is  it  still  proclaimed  and  insisted  on? 

The  distinct  assertion  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is, 
"  by  the  works  of  the  law.  no  man  is  justified  in  the 


58  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.        [lECT.  IV. 

sight  of  God."  The  objection  of  man's  reason  to 
this,  is,  that  the  proclamation  of  the  claims  and  de- 
mands of  the  law  is  then  unprofitable  and  vain. 
But  as  Luther  says,  "  the  consequence  is  nothing 
worth.  Money  doth  not  justify,  or  make  a  man 
righteous,  therefore  it  is  unprofitable ;  the  eyes  do 
not  justify,  therefore,  they  must  be  plucked  out ;  the 
hands  make  not  a  man  righteous,  therefore  they 
must  be  cut  off.  This  is  naught  also,  the  law  doth 
not  justify,  therefore  it  is  unprofitable.  We  must 
attribute  unto  everything,  its  proper  effect  and  use. 
We  do  not  therefore  condemn  or  destroy  the  law, 
because  we  say  it  doth  not  justify.  It  hath  its  pro- 
per office  and  use,  but  not  to  make  men  righteous. 
It  accuseth,  (errifieth,  condemneth  them.  We  say 
wi^h  Paul,  that  the  law  is  good,  if  a  man  do  rightly 
use  it,  that  is  to  say,  if  he  use  the  law  as  a  law." 
It  is  the  preacher's  duty  to  proclaim  faithfully,  the 
requisitions  and  threatenings  of  God's  holy  law, 
which  are  unceasingly  violated  by  man.  But  many 
who  listen  to  him  will  strongly  object  to  this  con- 
tinual republication  of  the  law.  They  oppose,  both 
the  exhibition  of  its  demands  and  penalties,  which 
are  suspended  as  a  violated  covenant,  over  the  un- 
converted and  unbelieving ;  and  the  strict  enforcing 
of  its  holy  precepts  as  a  rule  of  life  upon  the  pro- 
fessed servants  of  God.  Some  are  unwilling  to 
hear  anything  from  the  pulpit  which  alarms  and 
terrifies  the  conscience ;  and  others  desire  and  re- 
solve to  be  satisfied  with  a  standard  of  conduct,  far 
inferior  to  the  holy  commandments  of  God.  Both 
are  ready  to  urge  the  objection  of  the  text.  And  to 
both,  the  only  proper  reply  is,  a  more  distinct  and 
persevering  publication  of  the  very  law  to  which 


LECT.  IV.]        PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.  59 

they  object,  as  absolutely  indispensable  to  awaken 
the  conscience,  convert  the  soul,  and  sanctify  the 
character  of  man.  In  proportion  as  this,  in  its  due 
measure  and  place  is  faithfully  done,  will  the  grace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  be  precious  and  powerful  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  receive  the  truth,  and  the  min- 
istry of  his  servants  be  made  effectual  in  calling  in 
the  number  of  his  people.  "  To  preach  justification 
by  the  law,  as  a  covenant,"  says  Bishop  Hopkins, 
"  is  legal,  and  makes  void  the  death  and  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ.  But  to  preach  obedience  to  the  law 
as  a  rule,  is  evangelical ;  and  it  savours  as  much  of 
a  New  Testament  spirit,  to  urge  the  commands  of 
the  law,  as  to  display  the  promises  of  the  Gospel." 

This  important  subject,  what  is  the  present  use 
and  design  of  the  law  under  a  dispensation  of  grace  ? 
I  wish  to  consider,  in  a  general  view,  as  involving 
many  important  particulars,  which  we  shall  after- 
wards consider  separately.  "  Wherefore  then  serv- 
eth  the  law?"  We  answer,  it  has  a  twofold  use 
and  operation,  upon  the  disobedient  and  unjustified, 
and  upon  the  pardoned  and  accepted  sinner : — upon 
wicked  men  who  are  still  without  Christ; — and 
upon  renewed  men  who  are  adopted  into  his  family 
and  kingdom. 

I.  The  use  of  the  law  with  the  unconverted  and 
unpardoned.  The  Apostle  says, ''  it  was  added  be- 
cause of  transgressions."  It  was  man's  iniquity 
which  made  its  publication  necessary.  And  its  ope- 
ration is  temporary,  "  until  the  seed  come,  to  whom 
the  promise  was  made,"  until  Christ  as  its  end  and 
fulfilment  is  adequately  revealed.  The  object  of 
God  in  the  operation  of  the  law,  is  merciful  and  gra- 
cious.    "  The  Scripture  hath  concluded  all  under 


60  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.       [lECT.  IV. 

sin,  that  the  promise  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  might 
be  given  to  them  that  believe."  Harsh  and  terrify- 
ing, as  the  denunciations  of  the  law  appear  to  the 
ungodly,  they  are  designed  to  be,  and  ought  to  be 
improved,  for  the  deliverance  and  spiritual  life,  of 
those,  against  whom  they  are  uttered.  As  a  general 
answer  to  the  question  of  the  text,  is  the  assertion 
of  the  Apostle,  "  it  was  added,  because  of  transgres- 
sions." 

1.  It  was  added,  to  restrain  and  limit  these  trans- 
gressions. It  finds  man  in  his  fallen  condition,  seek- 
ing out  for  himself,  many  inventions  of  disobedience. 
The  whole  world  under  the  influence  of  his  depra- 
vity, lieth  in  wickedness ;  and  in  captivity  to  Satan, 
lieth  under  the  wicked  one.  This  was  the  condition 
of  men,  after  the  publication  of  the  grace  of  God  to 
man,  in  the  promised  redemption  by  his  Son.  Men 
had  filled  the  earth  with  the  habitations  of  dark- 
ness and  cruelty.  The  chosen  seed  had  corrupted 
themselves  exceedingly.  And  God  proclaimed  again 
his  holy  law  with  terrible  majesty,  to  bridle  and  re- 
strain the  wickedness  of  mankind.  It  denounced 
judgment  and  wrath.  It  spake  in  thunders.  It 
alarmed  and  terrified  the  ungodly.  It  threatened  a 
devouring  fire,  and  everlasting  burnings.  This  was 
because  of  transgressions ;  that  some  limit  might  be 
set  up,  in  the  fears  and  apprehensions  of  men,  to  the 
scornful  triumphs  of  human  wickedness.  For  this 
purpose  has  it  operated  always,  and  is  it  always  to 
be  proclaimed.  God  thus  reveals  his  wrath  against 
all  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  men,  and  pro- 
claims to  them,  that  such  shall  not  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  heaven ;  to  drive  men  back,  from  the  wicked- 
ness, to  which  their  deceitful  and  depraved  hearts 


LECT.  IV.]  PRESENT    USE    OF    THE    LAW.  61 

would  lead  them.  It  is  for  this  end,  that  the  Apostle 
declares,  "  the  law  was  made  for  the  lawless  and 
disobedient,  for  the  ungodly,  and  for  sinners,  for  un- 
holy and  profane,  and  any  other  thing  that  is  con- 
trary to  sound  doctrine,  according  to  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  blessed  God."  The  abounding  of  hu- 
man wickedness,  even  amidst  the  denunciations  of 
flames  and  vengeance  which  the  law  so  solemnly 
pronounces, — shews  what  would  be  the  character 
and  condition  of  man,  were  he  set  free  from  the 
bonds  which  it  thus  fastens  around  him.  Fear  of 
the  awful  consequences  which  must  come  upon 
guilt,  is  the  prevailing  motive  which  restrains  and 
controls  the  passions  of  ungodly  men.  It  holds  back 
in  uncounted  instances,  the  arm  of  murderous  re- 
venge, and  bridles  the  accomplishment  of  covetous 
and  licentious  appetite.  And  it  cannot  be  doubted, 
that  if  the  secret,  dark,  and  majestic  frown  with 
which  the  law  speaks  to  the  consciences  of  the 
wicked  could  be  withdrawn,  and  the  fear  which  it 
awakens  could  be  hushed,  the  main  restraint  upon 
the  depravity  of  man  would  be  broken,  and  the  chief 
guardian  of  the  peace  of  human  society  would  be 
destroyed.  As  the  prevailing  principle,  it  is  the  self- 
ish fear  of  man,  which  allows  men  to  live  in  mutual 
security  and  peace ;  not  his  fear  of  human  condem- 
nation merely,  but  a  secret,  conscious,  though  unde- 
finable  fear  of  the  wrath  and  judgment  of  God.  And 
one  very  important  present  use  of  the  law  is  thus  to 
bridle  and  restrain  the  wickedness  of  man. 

2.  It  is  added  to  bring  to  lights  the  trarisgressions 
of  men.  The  Apostle  says  "  the  law  entered,  that 
sin  might  abound ;"  and  again,  "  I  had  not  known 
sin  but  by  the  law,  for  I  had  not  known  lust,  ex- 


62  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.       [lECT.  IV. 

cept  the  law  had  said,  thou  shalt  not  covet ;"  nay, 
he  farther  teaches  us,  that  the  operation  of  the  law 
upon  the  corrupt  nature  of  man,  was  actually  to  in- 
crease his  secret  desires  to  transgress,  though  it 
bridled  his  outward  acts.  ''  Sin,  taking  occasion  by 
the  commandment,  wrought  in  me,  all  manner  of 
concupiscence."  Man,  without  this  operation  of  the 
law,  is  extremely  ignorant  of  his  own  character. 
Sin  within  him,  appears  dead.  He  has  a  vain  con- 
fidence in  his  own  righteousness,  and  imagines  that 
there  is  some  merit  of  good  works  in  himself.  The 
law  is  added,  as  the  instrument,  to  bring  his  secret 
character  to  light ;  to  shew  him  the  transgressions 
within  his  heart ;  to  reveal  those  awful  things,  which 
our  blessed  Lord  declares,  come  from  within,  out  of 
the  heart  of  man,  and  defile  his  character  and  life  ; 
to  exhibit  to  him,  the  blindness,  and  hardness,  and 
impiety  of  his  own  mind  in  the  sight  of  God ;  and 
to  make  him  feel  himself  to  be  guilty,  and  worthy 
of  condemnation  before  God.  It  lays  down  before 
him,  its  holy  standard,  its  unrelaxing  demands, 
its  solemn  denunciations  upon  disobedience  against 
them.  It  brings  man  up  to  the  view  of  this  stand- 
ard, and  to  the  sound  of  these  denunciations ;  and 
his  unsubdued  heart  rebels  against  them,  and  mani- 
fests at  once,  the  secret  character  which  had  been 
covered  before.  Thus  the  Saviour  brought  out  the 
secret  character  of  the  self-righteous  young  man  who 
came  to  him,  to  bid  for  eternal  life.  He  had  no  con- 
viction of  sin.  He  ''  knew  nothing  by  himself" 
But  the  Lord  Jesus  spread  before  him,  the  holy  de- 
mands of  the  very  law,  in  his  obedience  to  which 
he  so  confidently  trusted  ;  and  his  secret  sin  was 
set  in  the  light  of  God's  countenance  before  him. 


LECT.  IV.]       PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.  63 

He  saw  himself  refusing  an  entire  obedience,  tliough 
he  had  professed  his  willingness  to  do  anything  ;  and 
he  went  away  sorrowful,  not  for  his  sins,  but  for  the 
mortification  of  his  pride,  and  the  overturning  of  his 
previous  hope.  This  is  an  essential  operation  of  the 
law ;  man's  secret  wickedness  must  be  brought  to 
his  view.  That  transgression  which  saith  within 
his  heart,  there  shall  be  no  fear  of  God  before  my 
eyes,  must  be  listened  to  and  acknowledged.  Until 
this  has  been  done,  his  pride,  and  self-confidence, 
and  neglect  of  God,  and  rejection  of  the  grace  of 
Christ,  will  all  remain,  in  a  perfectly  satisfied  and 
self-righteous  temper,  nor  will  the  preaching  of  par- 
don and  salvation  in  the  Lord  Jesus  have. the  least 
effect  upon  him.  Until  this  divine  Saviour  is  sought 
for,  and  accepted  in  his  heart,  the  law  must  be  pro- 
claimed, to  bring  to  light,  the  secret  transgressions 
of  which  he  is  wholly  and  willingly  ignorant. 

3.  The  law  is  added,  to  convince  man  of  these 
transgressions.  It  brings  out  his  hidden  wickedness 
to  view,  that  inward  thought  of  his  heart  which  is 
very  deep,  that  it  may  compel  him  to  acknowledge 
himself  a  sinner,  condemned  before  God,  and  lost  in 
guilt.  His  own  blinded  reason  would  persuade  him, 
that  if  he  be  not  outwardly  a  transgressor  against 
men,  this  is  sufiicient,  and  he  ought  to  be  accepted 
by  God.  But  God  brings  in  the  power  of  his  lawd;o 
bear  upon  his  secret  character,  that  sin  may  abound 
in  his  view.  This  is  the  hammer  with  which  he 
breaks  the  rock  in  pieces,  and  makes  the  proud  sin- 
ner feel  himself,  and  acknowledge  himself,  to  be 
worthy  of  the  condemnation  and  wrath  of  God. 
He  that  was  before  self-righteous,  and  alive  without 
the  commandment,  now  feels  himself  shut  up  to 


64  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.       [lECT.  IV. 

death,  by  every  precept ;  without  hope,  a  vessel  of 
wrath  fitted  to  destruction.  He  looks  upon  the 
holiness  of  the  law,  and  is  convinced  of  sin.  He 
looks  upon  the  just  authority  of  the  law,  and  is 
convinced  of  wrath  and  judgment  ipr  sin.  He  looks 
upon  the  majestic  and  unalterable  truth  of  the  law, 
and  is  convinced,  that  there  remaineth  nothing  for 
him,  "  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment 
and  fiery  indignation  which  shall  devour  the  adver- 
saries." In  this  work  of  conviction,  "the  law  of 
God"  says  Luther,  "  hath  properly  and  peculiarly, 
that  office  which  it  had  in  Mount  Sinai,  when  it  was 
first  given,  and  was  first  heard  by  them  that  were 
washed,  righteous,  purified  and  chaste.  And  yet 
notwithstanding,  it  brought  down  that  holy  people 
into  such  a  knowledge  of  their  own  misery,  that 
they  were  thrown  down  even  to  death  and  des- 
peration. No  purity,  no  holiness  could  then  help 
them  ;  but  there  was  in  them,  such  a  feeling  of 
their  own  uncleanness,  unworthiness,  and  sin,  and 
of  the  judgment  and  wrath  of  God,  that  they  fled 
from  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  could  not  abide  to 
hear  his  voice.  '  What  flesh  was  there  ever,'  say 
they,  '  that  heard  the  voice  of  the  living  God  speak- 
ing out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  lived  T  So  it 
happeneth  at  length  to  all  self-justifiers,  who  being 
drtnken  with  the  opinion  of  their  own  righteous- 
ness, do  think  when  they  are  out  of  temptation,  that 
they  are  beloved  of  God,  and  that  God  regardeth 
their  works,  and  that  for  them  he  will  give  them  a 
crown  in  heaven.  But  when  that  thunder,  light- 
ning, and  fire,  and  that  hammer  which  breaketh  in 
pieces,  that  is  to  say,  the  law  of  God,  cometh  sud- 
denly upon  them,  revealing  unto  them  their  sin,  and 


LECT.  IV.]        PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.  65 

the  wrath  and  judgment  of  God,  then  the  self-same 
thing  happeneth  unto  them,  which  happened  to  the 
Jews  standing  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai."  Un- 
godly men  are  thus  convinced  by  the  law,  made  to 
feel,  and  to  acknowledge  their  guilt ;  and  are  ready 
to  hear  the  glad  tidings  of  divine  mercy  and  for- 
giveness in  the  Gospel. 

4.  The  use  of  the  law  with  the  ungodly,  is  through 
the  knowledge  and  conviction  of  sin  which  it  pro- 
duces, to  inepare  tliem^  and  lead  them,  to  seek  for  and 
hear  tJie  mercy  of  God  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Apostle  speaks  of  this,  when  he  teaches  the 
peculiar  provision  of  mercy  from  God,  and  safety 
for  man,  to  which  God  would  thus  make  his  law 
subservient.  When  the  promised  seed  has  come, 
and  the  Saviour  is  accepted  in  the  heart;  when  the 
blessing  which  conies  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  re- 
ceived, the  law  condemns  no  more,  and  men  are  no 
longer  shut  up  under  its  power.  Its  purpose  is,  as 
a  light,  to  reveal,  not  mercy  and  grace,  not  righteous- 
ness and  life,  but  sin  and  death,  and  the  wrath  and 
judgment  of  God.  Its  immediate  effect  is,  to  in- 
crease the  impatience  and  rebellion  of  man  until  it 
humbles  him,  and  beats  him  down  in  desperation. 
It  crushes  his  pride,  annihilates  his  self-confidence, 
and  shuts  his  mouth  in  conscious  guilt.  This  is  all 
that  it  can  do.  Thus  it  prepares  the  way  for  the 
promised  seed,  and  makes  an  entrance  to  the  heart, 
for  the  grace  of  God,  and  opens  the  mind  to  hear 
and  learn  of  God,  as  the  exalter  of  the  humble,  the 
comforter  of  the  afflicted,  the  lifter  up  of  the  des- 
pairing, and  the  giver  of  life  to  the  dead.  Thus  too, 
it  opens  the  way  for  man's  justification  in  the  obedi- 
ence of  Christ,  and  prepares  the  sinner  to  hear  the 


66  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.       [lECT.  IV. 

precious  invitation,  "  come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  It 
is  designed  therefore,  though  speaking  in  wrath,  to 
be  a  messenger  of  mercy ;  though  proclaiming  con- 
demnation unto  death,  to  lead  to  one  who  giveth 
life  forevermore.  It  is  added  because  of  trans- 
gressions, to  persuade  men  to  bring  the  burden  of 
them,  which  it  shews  to  be  excessive  and  intolera- 
ble, to  the  Saviour's  feet,  that  they  may  receive  a  free 
forgiveness  through  his  blood,  and  be  justified  by 
his  grace,  and  find  him  to  be  in  himself,  the  right- 
eousness and  life  they  need.  These  are  the  various 
uses  of  the  law  with  the  ungodly  and  unconverted. 

II.  The  use  of  the  law  with  the  pardoned  and 
justified.  Its  main  purpose  is  to  bring  sinners  to 
Christ,  that  they  may  be  justified  by  his  grace ;  but 
it  does  not  cease  its  operation  upon  them,  when  this 
merciful  security  has  been  attained.  It  still  has  an 
important  work  to  -accomplish,  subordinate  to  the 
great  dispensation  of  grace  which  has  fulfilled  its 
demands  and  penalties,  and  added  a  higher  seal  to 
its  holiness  and  excellence.  When  men  have  been 
brought  from  darkness  into  light, — and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God,  and  are  made  pa  takers 
of  his  grace,  the  law  serves  many  purposes  for  their 
benefit. 

1.  It  is  the  rule  of  life  by  ichich  they  are  governed. 
They  are  made  free  from  its  penalties  and  threaten- 
ings,  that  with  a  new  and  grateful  spirit  they  may 
be  enabled  to  obey  its  commands.  In  their  adoption 
as  children  into  the  family  of  God,  a  love  for  his 
character,  and  for  the  holiness  which  distinguishes 
it,  has  been  implanted  in  their  hearts.  They  are 
made  to  desire  perfect  holiness  of  character,  which 


LECT.  IV.]       PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.  67 

is  the  image  of  God  and  obedience  to  his  law.    Ana 
though  they  work  not  for  wages,  and  their  hope 
rests  not  upon  any  obedience  of  their  own,  the  spirit 
which  is  given  to  them,  leads  them  to  press  forward 
in  every  path  of  obedience,  desiring  to  be  perfect  as 
their  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect.     That  law  which 
requires  supreme  love  to  God,  and  universal  love  to 
men  for  his  sake,  is  now  written  for  them,  not  in 
tables  of  stone,  but  in  the  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart. 
It  is  the  rule  by  which  they  govern  their  most  secret 
life.     And  though  they  actually  come  short  of  it  in 
every  particular,  and  are  thus  daily  convinced  by  it 
of  sin,  it  is  the  standard  which  they  love,  at  which'* 
they  aim,  and  by  which  they  are  governed  with  in- 
creasing uniformity  through  life.     The  holy  precepts 
of  the  law  are  therefore  still  to  be  proclaimed  to  the 
people  of  God;  that  they  may  be  made  obedient  and 
holy  under  their  influence.     With  the  heart-search- 
ing requirements  of  these  divine  precepts  are  they 
to  compare  themselves,  that  they  may  see  the  at- 
tainments in  holiness  which  must  be  made  by  them, 
if  they  would  stand  complete  in  all  the  perfect  will 
of  God.     No  lower  rule  of  life  than  this  can  ever 
be  established.     When  the  servants  of  God  are  per- 
fectly sanctified,  and  aw^ake  up  in  a  world  of  glory 
after  the  divine  image,  they  will  be  perfectly  con- 
formed to  the  precepts  of  this  holy  law.     And  now, 
while  they  are  expecting  this  inheritance,  these  com- 
mandments are  the  rule  according  to  which  they  be- 
come meet  for  it,  and  their  obedience  to  them  is  the 
necessary  fruit  of  holiness  in  their  renewed  nature. 
By  the  guidance  of  these  commandments,  they  who 
believe  in  Christ,  are  made  careful  to  maintain  good 
works. 


68  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.       [lECT.  IV. 

2.  The  law  serves  to  warn  and  guard  the  justified 
and  converted  from  the  commission  of  sin.  There 
remains  within  them,  a  principle  of  corruption 
which  leads  to  sin ;  a  principle,  which  though  it  be 
conquered  and  limited,  is  ever  struggling  for  the 
mastery,  and  labouring  to  bring  them  into  subjection 
to  its  power.  To  keep  them  back  from  allowing 
this  insurgent  influence  within  them,  which  would 
combine  with  temptation  without,  for  their  entire 
overthrow  and  destruction,  they  have  the  indwelling 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who  lives  and  acts  within 
them,  as  the  Redeemer's  agent  in  bringing  home  his 
sons  to  glory  ;  the  many  blessed  motives  and  prom- 
ises, which  the  Gospel  proposes  as  inducements  to 
obedience ;  and  these  w^arnings  and  threatenings  of 
the  law  which  guard  them,  and  keep  them  back 
from  sin.  "  By  them,"  says  David,  "  is  thy  servant 
warned."  As  the  awful  sanctions  of  the  law  are 
proclaimed,  and  its  holy  requirements  are  pressed 
upon  the  servants  of  God,  they  operate  as  a  power- 
ful guard  upon  them  in  the  hands  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
They  are  a  wall  of  fire  to  keep  them  from  the  indul- 
gence of  sinful  propensity,  and  the  submission  to 
unholy  temptation.  "  How  shall  I  do  this  great 
wickedness,"  says  Joseph,  "  and  sin  against  God?" 
The  fearful  evils  of  transgression  are  seen ;  its 
awful  nature  is  discovered  ;  its  dreadful  effects  are 
beheld ;  its  solemn  penalties  stand  forth  to  say 
*•  hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and  no  further ;"  and 
they  are  all  mercifully  employed  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
as  instruments  of  protection  to  those  whom  he  sanc- 
tifies; standing  before  them,  as  beacons  upon  the 
rock  of  danger,  to  give  timely  notice  to  every  un- 
wary approach. 


LECT.  IV.]  PRESENT    USE    OF    THE    LAW.  69 

3.  The  law  serves  to  make  justified  souls  grate- 
ful for  the  privileges  which  they  enjoy.     They  have 
been  redeemed  from  bondage  under  its  curse.    They 
have  been  set  at  liberty  from  its  prison-house.    They 
have  seen  all  its  threatenings  borne,  and  all  its  obli- 
gations fulfilled  in  their  behalf,  in  the  most  honor- 
able and  glorious  w^ay.     And  as  they  contemplate 
the  mercies  which  have  been  thus  bestowed  upon 
them,  they  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory.     As  these  great  privileges  are  announced  and 
set  before  them,  in  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel, 
they  bless  God  for  the  consolation.     But  they  can 
hardly  be  considered   at  all,  except  in  connection 
with  the  dangers  and  evils  to  which  they  have  been 
the  antidote.     And  as  these  are  brought  to  view  in 
the  proclamations  of  the  law,  the  redeemed  soul 
looks  back  upon  them  with  peculiar  gratitude,  that 
for  him  they  have  passed  by  forever.     He  is  a  par- 
taker of  a  great  salvation :  he  has  received  a  king- 
dom which  cannot  be  removed ;    and  it  is  a  most 
important  object  in  the  cultivation  of  his  character, 
that  he  should  not  be  unmindful  of  the  heavenly 
benefit,  nor  ungrateful  for  its  gracious  bestowal  upon 
him.     As  the  law  speaks  out  its  thunders,  proclaim- 
ing the  rigour  of  its  demands,  denouncing  the  wrath 
of  God  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil,  the 
justified  man  rejoices  yet  more  in  the  blessed  as- 
surance, that  he  has  been  delivered  from  all  this 
storm  and  tempest  by  abounding  grace,  and  stands 
upon  a  fast  shore  of  peace  with  an  inheritance  for- 
ever.    '^  Such  was  I,"  he  says  with  humble  grati- 
tude, "  but  I  am  washed,  I  am  sanctified,  I  am  jus- 
tified, in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the 
Spirit  of  my  God."     And  the  preaching  of  the  law 


70  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.       [lECT.  IV. 

is  thus  blessed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  create  and  cul- 
tivate within  him,  a  spirit  of  more  ardent  gratitude 
and  joy. 

4.  The  law  serves  to  keep  the  justified  man  in  a 
close  dependence  upon  Jesus.  As  the  pelting  storm 
drives  the  little  chickens  under  the  sheltering  wing, 
do  the  terrors  of  the  law  drive  home  the  pardoned 
sinner,  to  realize  more  completely  the  entire  protec- 
tion of  that  righteousness  which  the  Lord  Jesus  il- 
lustrates by  this  very  image.  He  sees  more  clearly 
that  he  has  nothing  of  his  own,  and  can  never  meet 
from  any  source  within  himself  the  demands  which 
are  made  upon  him.  He  must  have  a  righteousness 
which  is  not  in  himself,  and  cannot  be  found,  except 
in  the  obedience  of  the  Saviour  for  him.  The  more 
loudly  the  law  threatens,  the  more  closely  and  ear- 
nestly does  he  cling  to  this  provision ;  as  the  more 
fiercely  the  storm  rages,  does  the  bird  fold  herself 
more  closely  in  her  nest,  and  the  dove  fly  the  more 
swiftly  to  her  window.  To  break  up  all  self-right- 
eousness, to  bind  sinful  man  merely  in  his  own 
nakedness  fast  to  Jesus,  that  he  may  be  clothed  from 
his  fulness  alone,  is  the  great  purpose  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  the  great  work  of  the  Spirit,  with  him. 
The  preaching  of  the  law  is  made  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  produce  this  blessed  effect,  and  thus  to  be 
an  instrument  of  grace,  and  religious  benefit.  It 
forces  man  from  every  covert  of  his  own.  It  com- 
pels him  to  see  that  there  is  no  protection  but  in 
that  cleft  of  the  rock  which  God  hath  provided  for 
him.  It  constrains  him  to  escape  for  his  life  to  him 
who  is  able  to  save  him  unto  the  uttermost,  crying 
from  his  heart, — 


LECT.  IV.]  PRESENT    USE    OF    THE    LAW.  71 

Naked,  I  come  to  thee  for  dress, 
Helpless,  come  to  thee  for  grace, 
Foul,  I  to  the  fountain  fly, 
Wash  me  Jesus,  or  I  die. 

The  Saviour  thus  becomes  to  him  all  in  all.  He 
is  justified  and  glories  in  him  alone,  and  casting  out 
all  self-dependence,  he  finds  in  Jesus,  and  in  the  per- 
fection of  his  work,  righteousness  and  peace. 

These  are  manifest  uses  of  the  law  with  the  jus- 
tified and  pardoned.  It  rules  and  guides  them  in 
holiness, — it  warns  and  guards  them  against  sin, — 
it  makes  them  grateful  for  redemption, — it  binds 
them  in  a  closer  dependence  upon  the  Lord  Jesus, 
— and  thus  is  made  the  means  of  spiritual  benefit 
to  them  ;  as  in  Samson's  riddle,  ''  out  of  the  eater, 
comes  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  comes 
forth  sweetness," — not  so  much  by  any  action  of  its 
own,  as  by  the  overruling  power  of  the  Spirit,  who 
makes  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  those 
who  love  God,  and  who  are  called  according  to  his 
purpose. 

III.  For  these  two  purposes,  the  law  is  added  and 
proclaimed  under  a  dispensation  of  grace.  To  ac- 
complish all  these  ends  which  have  been  specified 
under  them,  we  are  still  to  preach  the  law,  though 
Christ  hath  become  its  perfect  end  for  righteousness 
to  all  who  believe.  But  there  remains  still  another 
reason  for  its  proclamation,  in  the  fact  that  a  final 
judgment  must  be  administered  to  man  according  to 
its  requisitions.  For  his  own  people,  Jesus  has 
brought  in  a  perfect  and  everlasting  righteousness, 
which  will  meet  and  honor  all  the  demands  of  the 
law  in  that  great  day.  But  for  those  who  are  out 
of  Christ,  who  have  rejected  his  proffered  mediation, 


72  PRESENT  USE  OF  THE  LAW.       [lECT.  IV. 

and  cast  away  the  cords  of  his  grace,  the  law  will 
come  in  with  the  full  force  of  its  unyielding  requisi- 
tions. It  will  demand  an  obedience  in  perfect  con- 
formity with  these.  It  will  shew  them  their  ex- 
treme guiltiness.  It  will  strip  off  the  coverings  of 
deceit.  It  will  display  its  condemnation  of  them, 
as  justly  merited,  and  unquestionable  forever.  God 
has  established  but  one  standard  for  obedience 
among  creatures  who  are  accountable.  Angels 
have  obeyed  it,  and  will  live.  Redeemed  saints 
have  found  for  them  a  perfect  obedience,  in  the  glo- 
rious righteousness  of  an  appointed  mediator.  But 
all  impenitent  and  unholy  beings  will  be  condemned 
by  its  sentence,  and  shut  up  under  this  condemna- 
tion forever.  And  the  law  stands  among  men,  as 
the  living  witness  of  the  fact,  and  of  the  principles, 
of  this  coming  judgment.  To  persuade  men  to  flee 
from  this  impending  ruin,  it  announces  its  own  char- 
acter and  operation, — that  sinners  may  in  time  avoid, 
a  sentence  which  must  be  eternally  irrevocable. 
For  Zion's  sake  therefore  should  we  not  hold  our 
peace,  until  this  momentous  object  is  secured,  and 
perishing  souls  are  sheltered  in  the  glorious  pro- 
visions and  power  of  the  Redeemer.  ^'  It  is  Christ, 
and  Christ  alone  that  can  save  us.  As  the  worst 
of  our  sins  are  pardonable  by  Christ,  so  the  best  of 
our  duties  are  damnable  without  him."  And  while 
he  hath  been  made  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him, — the  law 
witnessing  continually,  of  sin,  and  righteousness, 
and  judgment,  is  to  be  made  the  instrument  for 
emptying  us  of  all  self-dependence,  and  keeping  us 
m  him,  who  speaks  in  righteousness,  and  is  mighty 
to  save. 


LECTURE  V. 

THE  CONVINCING  POWER  OF  THE  LAW. 

Now  we  know,  that  whatsoever  things  the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  that 
are  under  the  law,  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world  become 
guilty  before  God.— Romans  hi.  19. 

The  purity  and  perfection  of  the  divine  law  be- 
come open  to  our  view,  in  proportion  to  our  serious 
and  candid  examination  of  its  character.  The 
psalmist  contemplated  it,  as  the  highest  standard  of 
perfection.  ''  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection, 
but  thy  commandment  is  exceeding  broad."  To 
every  mind  enlightened  like  his,  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  same  conclusion  is  equally  distinct  and  certain. 
There  is  a  length  and  breadth,  in  the  excellence  of 
this  revelation  of  the  divine  character,  which  trans- 
cends the  power  of  human  investigation.  It  is  in  all 
respects,  and  in  the  highest  degree,  holy,  just,  and 
good.  To  those  who  have  always  been  obedient 
to  its  precepts,  it  is  ordained  to  life ;  designed  to 
confer  the  highest  happiness,  and  to  open  a  path, 
which  is  unmingled  pleasantness  and  peace  for  those 
who  walk  in  it. 

But  a  holy  law  abides  not  transgression ;  a  just 
law  condemns  the  disobedient ;  a  true  and  faithful 
law  offers  no  hope  to  sinners.  It  speaks  in  right- 
eousness, but  it  has  no  power  to  save.  Its  whole 
operation  upon  the  ungodly,  is  to  enlighten,  to  con- 

4 


74  CONVINCING    POWER    OF     THE    LAW.  [lECT.  V. 

vince,  and  to  condemn  them.  But  its  operation  is 
indispensable  for  their  deliverance  from  the  curse 
which  itself  imposes.  Until  they  are  thus  dealt 
with,  hardly  as  it  appears,  sinful  men  do  not  desire, 
and  will  not  ask  for,  the  salvation  which  God  has 
mercifully  and  freely  laid  up  for  their  acceptance  in 
his  own  dear  Son.  This  varied  operation  of  the 
law,  in  its  successive  particulars,  I  propose  now  to 
consider.  And  I  would  speak  in  this  discourse,  of 
the  power  of  the  law,  in  enlightening  and  convincing 
the  ungodly  and  disobedient. 

This  convincing  power  of  the  law  upon  the  con- 
science of  the  sinner,  the  apostle  displays  in  the 
language  of  the  text, — "  Now  w^e  know,  that  what- 
soever things  the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  that  are 
under  the  law,  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped, 
and  the  whole  world  become  guilty  before  God." 
"The  things  which  the  law  saith,"  its  holy  precepts, 
its  solemn  sanctions,  its  awful  sentence,  constitute 
the  instrument  of  its  power.  They  are  the  hand 
which  grasps,  and  the  arm  which  conquers,  the  soul 
of  the  transgressor.  The  extent  of  their  just  and 
awful  operation,  is  to  "  all  those  who  are  under  the 
law."  Are  they  obedient  7  Have  they  never  trans- 
gressed ?  Its  holy  precepts  are  a  means  of  life,  and 
the  measure  of  their  reward  of  blessedness,  and 
speak  to  them  only  in  peace.  Are  they  transgres- 
sors? Its  solemn  threatenings  and  denunciations 
are  the  measure  and  seal  of  their  condemnation  and 
death.  The  character  of  those  who  are  under  the 
law  determines  the  nature  and  tendency  of  the 
things  which  the  law  speaks.  Among  a  w^orld  of 
fallen  transgressors,  its  influence  upon  all,  is  only, 
that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  the  whole 


LECT.  v.]  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  75 

world  be  manifested  as  guilty  before  God,  and  come 
under  his  judgment,  condemned  to  a  punishment, 
from  which  the  law  itself  offers  no  escape.  This  is 
the  necessary  tendency  and  end  of  the  work  of  the 
law  upon  the  guilty.  It  saith  the  things  which  it 
contains,  for  this  very  purpose,  "  that  every  mouth 
may  be  stopped,"  every  excuse  be  silenced,  every 
soul  consciously  condemned, — and  all  brought  under 
judgment,  without  merit  or  claim, — to  be  rescued 
and  blessed,  if  rescued  and  blessed  at  all,  entirely 
by  undeserved  mercy  on  the  part  of  God,  whose 
holy  commandments  condemn  them.  This  con- 
vincing power  of  the  law  is  displayed,  either  in  the 
salutary  awakening  and  conviction  of  the  sinner  in 
his  day  of  grace,  that  he  may  be  brought  to  Christ 
for  life ;  or  in  the  final  arousing  of  his  conscience  in 
the  day  of  judgment  to  a  perception  of  his  everlast- 
ing condemnation.  In  either  case,  the  effect  of  the 
law  is  the  same.  It  stops  the  mouth  of  every  trans- 
gressor, and  compels  him  to  acknowledge  himself 
guilty  before  God,  worthy  of  death,  and  without  a 
hope  of  life,  or  a  right  to  ask  it. 

The  convincing  power  of  the  law  in  the  day  of 
grace,  is  the  aspect  of  this  operation  of  which  I  now 
speak.  The  law  is  the  great  instrument  in  the 
agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  convince  men  of  sin, 
and  of  the  wrath  which  is  denounced  against  sin. 
In  his  hands,  it  is  living  and  powerful,  and  sharper 
than  a  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  di- 
viding asunder  of  the  soul  and  spirit,  and  is  a  dis- 
cerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  In 
this  process  of  saving  conviction,  the  law  is  to  be 
considered  as  the  instrument  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In 
itself,  it  is  to  the  conscience  of  the  sinner,  as  a  mere 


76  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  V. 

dead  letter.  Like  a  deaf  adder,  he  stops  his  ears 
against  its  commands  and  its  accusations.  But  this 
refusal  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  God  yields  under  the 
power  of  the  Spirit.  When  he  lays  hold  of  this 
hammer  of  the  word,  he  wields  it  with  a  resistless 
force,  and  breaks  down  all  the  strongholds  of  man's 
pride  and  self-confidence,  and  crushes  his  rebellious 
spirit  into  the  dust  of  humiliation  under  conscious 
guilt  and  ruin.  Without  this  spiritual  application 
of  the  law,  the  sinner  may  be  alive  and  boastful  in 
himself  But  when  the  commandment  comes,  with 
the  attendant  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  sin  revives 
in  all  its  hideous  features  and  destructive  power, 
and  shews  itself  without  disguise,  to  the  conscience 
compelled  to  behold  it.  Then,  the  sinner  dies.  He 
sinks  under  the  clear  apprehension  of  his  guilt,  and 
an  undeniable  conviction  of  the  judgment  w^hich  it 
impends  over  him.  He  lies  powerless  at  the  Sav- 
iour's feet ;  and  is  made  willing  in  the  day  of  his 
power  to  yield  himself  to  the  freeness  of  pardoning 
love,  and  to  the  new-creating  powder  of  divine  grace. 

I.  We  w^ill  consider  this  conviction,  under  the  as- 
pect of  the  tilings^  of  which  the  law  is  made  to  con- 
vince the  sinner.  "  Whatsoever  things  the  law 
saith,"  exhibit  the  various  facts  of  which  it  convinces 
the  transgressor. 

1.  It  saith  "  do  this,  and  thou  shalt  live  ;"  "  But 
whosoever  keepeth  the  whole  law,  and  oflfendeth  in 
one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all."  By  this  holy  and  un- 
yielding demand,  it  convinces  the  sinner,  of  the  fact^ 
and  the  guiltiness  of  his  past  transgressions.  The 
law  claims  from  every  being  who  is  under  it,  an  en- 
tire, perpetual,  and  spotless  obedience.  Its  precepts 
describe  the  holiest  of  possible  character,  in  the  con- 


LECT.   v.]  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  77 

dition  of  a  creature,  and  require  of  man,  a  perfect 
fulfilment  of  this.  In  the  exercise  of  its  convincing 
power,  it  reveals  this  true  character  of  itself,  to  the 
sinner's  understanding,  and  makes  him  to  see,  what 
the  Lord  God  requireth  of  him.  It  compares  the 
history  of  his  own  life,  as  it  is  known  to  himself, 
with  the  strictness  and  purity  of  these  demands.  It 
thus  brings  out  to  his  view,  the  obliquity  and  defects 
of  his  past  course ;  laying  down  its  perfect  and  un- 
bending rule  upon  the  crookedness  of  all  his  con- 
duct, and  giving  him  a  knowledge  of  his  sin.  It 
gives  him  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  sin  in  itself, 
and  of  its  existence  in  an  aggravated  degree,  in  his 
own  character  and  life.  Man  has  no  disposition  to 
seek,  or  even  to  receive,  the  information  which  the 
law  thus  imparts.  His  heart  is  ever  ready  to  reply 
to  its  inflexible  demands  and  solemn  judgments, 
"  not  so,  that  be  far  from  thee,  to  condemn  the  riofht- 
eous  with  the  wicked."  But  while  it  makes  these 
charges  of  guilt  against  the  transgressor,  it  makes 
him  also  to  understand  and  feel  their  justice.  His 
mouth  is  stopped  from  all  denial,  and  from  all  ex- 
cuse, of  his  innumerable  acts  of  disobedience.  The 
law  searches  into  his  secret  character,  and  shews 
liim  to  be,  by  the  corruption  of  his  nature,  and  by 
the  voluntary  habits  of  his  life,  a  being  extremely 
depraved  and  guilty, — with  the  whole  head  sick, 
and  the  whole  heart  faint.  It  charges  him  with 
having  spent  the  time  which  divine  forbearance  has 
allowed  him  upon  the  earth,  in  an  open  neglect  and 
defiance  of  the  God,  in  whose  hands  his  breath  is, 
and  whose  are  all  his  w^ays.  It  accuses  him  of  pre- 
sumptuous sins,  committed  against  warning  and 
knowledge  ; — of  repeated  relapses  into  them,  against 


78  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  V. 

all  his  protestations,  and  vows,  and  prayers  ;  of  rush- 
ing by  all  the  admonitions  of  God,  and  the  striv- 
ings of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  his  determination  to 
transgress.  It  accuses  him  of  sins  of  inadvertence 
and  ignorance,  utterly  without  number  ;  of  allowing 
days  to  pass  in  a  long  succession,  wholly  without  a 
thought  of  God,  or  a  consideration  of  his  holy  will ; 
of  crowding  together  the  greater  portion  of  his  life, 
without  reflecting  upon  his  conduct,  or  feeling  con- 
cerned whether  he  did  well  or  ill.  It  accuses  him 
of  secret  sins,  of  corrupt  desiresj  of  unholy  thoughts, 
as  countless  as  the  ocean's  sands ;  sins,  which  how- 
ever concealed  from  the  cognizance  of  the  world 
abroad,  are  open  and  naked  before  him  with  whom 
the  sinner  has  to  do ;  sins  which  though  they  pass 
him,  like  the  motes  which  play  upon  the  sunbeam, 
and  elude  all  his  efforts  to  pursue  and  examine  them, 
are  all  recorded  in  the  everlasting  remembrance  of 
God.  It  accuses  him  of  the  habitual  omission  of 
holy  duties  ;  of  neglect  of  the  worship  and  acknowl- 
edgment of  God  ;  of  restraining  the  voice  of  prayer, 
and  refusing  the  offerings  of  praise.  It  accuses  him 
of  vast  deficiencies  in  the  spirit  of  those  duties  which 
he  has  undertaken  to  perform  ;  of  dulness,  formality, 
and  hypocrisy,  in  his  apparent  approaches  to  the 
throne  of  God.  It  accuses  him,  in  addition  to  all 
acts  of  omission  or  commission,  of  that  which  these 
acts  infallibly  indicate,  a  corrupt  nature,  a  state  of 
mental  rebellion, — a  fountain  of  aversion  to  God  in 
his  heart ;  a  state  of  character  and  life,  in  which 
every  feeling  and  purpose  partakes  of  the  universal 
bitterness,  and  is  guilty  and  worthy  of  condemnation ; 
from  which  there  has  proceeded  no  good  thing. 
These  are  the  charges  which  the  law  makes  against 


LECT.  v.]  CONVIXCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  79 

the  transgressor,  as  it  lays  out  before  him,  its  holy 
and  perfect  precepts,  every  one  of  which  in  its  ap- 
plication to  him,  concludes  him  under  sin.  Under 
this  operation  of  the  law,  man  becomes  consciously 
condemned,  and  without  hope.  The  law  has 
brought  him  to  a  knowledge  of  his  sin,  and  made 
his  offences  to  abound  in  his  view.  And  under  this 
reviving  power  of  sin  which  it  brings  to  light,  he 
dies  to  all  prospect  or  means  of  finding  acceptance 
with  God  in  any  character  of  his  own. 

2.  The  law  saith,  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that  con- 
tinueth  not  in  all  things  wiiich  are  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law  to  do  them."  '^  The  soul  that  sin- 
neth,  it  shall  die."  By  this  solemn  denunciation  and 
sentence,  it  convinces  the  sinner,  of  his  exposure  to 
the  wrath  of  God,  and  of  his  necessary  condemna- 
tion to  eternal  death.  God  has  been  pleased  to 
guard  the  violations  of  his  law,  with  the  most  sol- 
emn and  terrible  sanctions.  He  has  promised  ever- 
lasting life,  as  the  attendant  upon  everlasting  obe- 
dience ; — and  he  has  denounced  eternal  death,  as 
the  inevitable  recompense  and  wages  of  continued 
sin.  He  has  proclaimed  an  unspeakably  awful 
curse  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil.  And 
because  every  soul  of  man,  has  done  evil  continually 
from  his  birth,  this  curse  in  all  its  terrors,  is  lying 
upon  every  human  being.  The  condemnation  of 
the  ungodly,  is  not  a  future,  contingent  matter,  but 
an  actual,  present  condemnation.  The  transgressor 
is  condemned  already.  And  though  like  a  convict 
in  his  cell,  he  has  a  respite  allowed  him,  before  the 
execution  of  his  sentence,  his  case  is  to  be  regarded, 
as  altogether  disposed  of.  No  new  process  of  au- 
thority is  required  for  his  punishment.     His  time  is 


80  CONVINCING   POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  [leCT.  V. 

fixed  ;  and  his  sentence  is  fixed  ;  and  he  is  to  be  let 
alone  merely,  until  the  hour  appointed,  shall  arrive. 
The  state  of  an  unconverted  sinner  is  thus,  a  state 
of  present  condemnation  under  the  just  wrath  of 
God.  He  may  be  ignorant  of  the  awful  condition 
in  which  he  stands  ; — he  may  choose  to  deny  the 
allegation  altogether.  But  this  is  one  of  the  things 
which  the  law  saith,  and  its  convincing  operation 
upon  the  sinner's  conscience,  is  to  make  him  ac- 
quainted with  the  solemn  and  all-important  fact 
which  is  here  announced  ;  to  make  him  know  that 
he  is  condemned,  and  that  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him.  It  shews  him,  that  though  prosperity  and 
wealth,  and  ease  and  honour  may  be  allowed  to  dec- 
orate his  passing  hours  on  the  earth,  his  final  des- 
tiny, while  he  remains  under  the  operation  of  the 
law,  is  nevertheless  unalterably  determined.  There 
is  a  curse  rolling  onward  upon  his  guilty  soul,  which 
will  sink  him  into  eternal  ruin.  The  law  convinces 
him  of  his  real  character  as  a  sinner  before  God,  and 
fastens  the  acknowledgment  upon  his  mind,  that 
there  remains  nothing  for  him  in  this  character,  but 
the  fearful  expectation  of  judgment  and  fiery  indig- 
nation which  shall  consume  him  as  an  adversary  of 
God.  It  shews  him  that  all  his  past  blessings  and 
comforts  in  temporal  things,  are  no  proofs  of  God's 
acceptance,  or  favour  for  his  soul ;  but  that  though 
God  has  thus  far  sustained  him  with  much  forbear- 
ance, he  has  been  still,  a  vessel  of  wrath  fitted  to 
destruction.  In  the  hour  of  his  conviction,  it  lays 
open  before  him,  the  solemn  fact,  that  he  has  been 
the  enemy  of  a  God  who  hath  said,  "  vengeance  is 
mine,  I  will  repay."  In  the  certainty  of  this  fact,  it 
shews  him  too,  that  he  is  with  the  utmost  reason 


LECT.  v.]  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  81 

and  justice,  condemned  to  eternal  death ;  and  that 
it  would  be  altogether  right  and  just  in  a  Holy  God, 
to  cast  him  from  his  presence  forever,  and  to  refuse 
the  exercise  of  any  mercy  upon  his  soul.  Laying 
down  before  him,  the  long  catalogue  of  transgres- 
sions, to  which  reference  has  been  made,  and  attach- 
ing to  each,  the  sentence  of  everlasting  exclusion 
from  the  presence  of  God,  it  solemnly  bids  him  to 
look  at  his  condition,  and  ask  himself  what  hope 
there  is,  that  he  can  escape  the  damnation  of  hell  7 
While  the  law  reveals  this  dreadful  condemnation, 
as  the  portion  of  the  guilty,  it  only  makes  known,  a 
fact  which  was  before  equally  certain,  but  of  which 
man  was  before  ignorant.  It  saith,  "  there  is  none 
good,  no,  not  one ;  they  have  all  sinned  ;  they  have 
all  become  abominable."  Then  it  saith, ''  cursed  be 
every  one  that  sinneth  against  God;"  "let  wrath 
come  upon  them,  and  let  them  go  down  quick  into 
hell,  for  I  have  seen  iniquity  among  them."  In 
man's  native  carelessness  and  blindness,  he  is  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  the  condition  in  which  a  violated 
law  has  placed  him.  The  convincing  power  of  the 
law  unveils  his  eyes  to  this  danger,  and  compels 
him  to  behold  it.  But  though  under  this  operation, 
he  groans  in  anguish,  he  is  no  more  in  condemna- 
tion, than  he  was  before  when  he  was  thoughtless 
and  gay.  He  has  now  simply  been  made  to  see, 
and  to  consider,  dangers  to  which  he  was  before  vol- 
untarily blinded ;  and  the  sight  of  his  previous  ac- 
tual condition,  over  which  he  has  long  slept  in  total 
unconcern,  like  the  sight  of  the  precipice,  which  the 
lightning's  flash  displays  to  the  midnight  traveller 
immediately  beneath  his  feet,  fills  his  mind  with  an- 
guish and  despair.     Sin  hath  revived.     The  wrath 

4* 


82  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  V. 

which  it  merits  is  proclaimed.     And  the  sinner, 
weak  and  hopeless,  dies. 

3.  "  Moses  describeth  the  righteousness  which,  is 
by  the  law,  that  the  man  which  doeth  these  things 
shall  live  by  them.''  ''  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it 
shall  die."  These  also  are  things  which  the  law 
saith ;  and  by  them,  the  Holy  Spirit  convinces  man 
of  the  utter  impossibility,  that  he  should  ever  be 
justified  by  any  works  of  his  own.  "  By  the  deeds 
of  the  law,  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight,  for 
by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin."  The  law 
gives  no  other  knowledge  than  this.  It  proposes  in 
its  very  nature,  but  two  possible  methods  by  which 
a  creature  can  be  just  with  God ;  and  they  are 
equally,  beyond  the  reach  of  a  creature  who  has 
committed  a  single  transgression.  In  the  one  method, 
it  offers  life,  to  those  who  have  perfectly  obeyed  its 
precepts.  In  the  other,  it  presents  liberty  to  those 
who  have  fully  endured  its  penalties.  Under  which 
of  these,  can  there  be  hope  for  sinful  man  7  He 
can  never  obtain  acceptance  by  his  obedience,  for  it 
is  vitiated  by  his  corrupt  nature  at  the  very  com- 
mencement, and  he  cannot  live  an  hour  without  sin. 
There  is  an  inseparable  imperfection  and  defilement 
in  every  duty  which  he  performs.  He  cannot  be 
justified  by  making  satisfaction  for  his  disobedience, 
for  no  satisfaction  can  be  received  short  of  the  entire 
penalty,  which  is  everlasting  death  ;  so  that  hoping 
for  life  by  recompensing  divine  justice  for  past  trans- 
gressions, is  but  to  hope  for  salvation  by  being 
damned.  Here  is  a  twofold  impossibility,  that  sin- 
ful man  should  ever  be  justified,  upon  any  ground 
of  his  own  merits,  which  the  law  demonstrates  to 
his  conscience  beyond  the  power  of  denial.     The 


LECT.  v.]  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  83 

convinced  sinner  sees  this  hopeless  state.  He  is 
compelled  to  acknowledge  his  guilt,  and  to  confess 
his  just  exposure  to  punishment.  And  he  is  com- 
pelled to  cast  aside  every  hope  of  working  out  any 
righteousness  for  himself.  A  knowledge  of  pardon 
and  life  must  come  to  him  from  some  otlier  source. 
The  revelation  of  a  mighty  and  gracious  Redeemer, 
who  as  the  sinner's  surety,  hath  obeyed  the  precepts, 
and  endured  the  penalties  of  the  law,  and  hath  thus 
brought  in  an  everlasting  righteousness  to  be  dis- 
posed of  according  to  his  own  will  and  gift,  and  who 
offers  it  freely  to  those  who  believe  in  him,  exhibits 
this  provision,  and  gives  this  know^ledge,  rationally 
and  perfectly.  But  the  law  can  never  give  it.  Its 
entire  work  is  conviction,  condemnation,  and  punish- 
ment, for  all  who  have  sinned.  It  has  justification 
for  none.  The  purpose  of  its  convincing  operation 
is  to  exhibit  distinctly  this  fact.  And  when  it  has 
brought  the  sinner  to  this  despair  in  himself,  by 
shewing  his  unspeakable  dangers,  and  his  inability 
to  find  a  remedy  for  them,  by  anything  which  he 
can  do  or  suffer,  it  has  finished  its  work.  There  it 
must  leave  the  transgressor  in  this  '^  horror  of  great 
darkness,"  until  the  very  same  Spirit  who  by  the 
ministry  of  the  law  has  thus  convinced  him  of  sin, 
shall  by  the  gracious  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  con- 
vince him  of  the  perfect  and  sufficient  righteousness 
which  is  laid  up  for  him  in  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord, 
to  be  made  his  own  by  faith,  freely,  through  the 
grace  of  God. 

These  three  points  exhibit  the  convincing  powder 
and  operation  of  the  law.  The  threefold  convic- 
tion of  guilt,  of  wrath,  and  of  hopeless  despair,  the 
Spirit  of  God  produces,  by  "  the  things  which  the 


84  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.  V. 

law  saith."  Until  this  conviction  has  been  produced, 
the  preaching  of  Christ  is  ineffectual  upon  the  sin- 
ner's soul.  He  will  never  turn  to  Jesus  with  a 
godly  sorrow  for  sin,  and  embrace  the  blessed  offers 
of  mercy  which  his  Gospel  presents,  until  he  has 
been  thoroughly  awakened  to  perceive,  and  to  ac- 
knowledge, the  facts  of  which  the  law  convinces 
him.  He  will  still  wrap  himself  in  his  own  carnal 
confidence,  and  see  no  need  of  looking  after  any 
other  righteousness  than  Iiis  own.  He  will  think 
himself  whole,  and  will  therefore  refuse  the  divine 
Physician.  He  will  be  ignorant  of  his  danger,  and 
will  still  reject  the  proposal  of  salvation.  This 
work  of  the  law  is  therefore  indispensable  for  man's 
spiritual  security.  He  will  not  fly  to  him  who  hath 
redeemed  him  from  the  curse  of  the  law^  by  being 
made  a  curse  for  him,  until  he  feels  himself  to  be 
under  that  curse.  Then,  when  the  hammer  of  God 
hatli  broken  his  stony  heart,  the  blessing  of  the 
Gospel  comes  to  him,  as  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning, 
and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness. 
H.  We  may  consider  this  conviction  under  the 
aspect  of  the  persons  to  luhom  it  must  be  applied. 
^'  Now,  we  know  that  whatsoever  things,  the  law 
saith,  it  saith  to  them  that  are  under  the  law."  In 
the  connection  in  which  this  passage  stands,  its  evi- 
dent principle  and  purpose  are  to  prove  the  guilt  of 
those  persons  who  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
greatest  spiritual  privileges.  The  Jews,  who  were 
in  every  sense  ^'  under  the  law,"  were  ready  to  ac- 
knowledge the  broadest  statements  of  guilt,  and  the 
most  solemn  denunciations  of  wrath,  as  truly  and 
entirely  applicable  to  the  Gentiles.  But  they  denied 
their  equal  application  to  themselves.     The  argu- 


LECT.  v.]  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  85 

ment  of  the  Apostle  opposes  this  assumption,  and 
demonstrates  the  just  application  of  all  that  the  law- 
said,  to  those  who  were  under  the  law ;  so  that  if 
it  uttered  aloud,  the  charge  of  universal  guilt,  and 
denounced  as  its  result,  universal  wrath,  it  certainly 
addressed,  in  each  case,  those  to  whom  its  holy  pre- 
cepts had  been  communicated.  While  w^e  apply 
this  assertion  peculiarly  to  the  moral  law,  we  must 
unequivocally  assert  its  application  to  every  human 
being.  All  mankind  are  born  under  the  inflexible 
obligations  of  this  sacred  law  ;  and  the  things  which 
it  saith,  it  saith  to  the  whole  family  of  man.  If 
they  applied  to  Jews  to  w^hom  had  been  given  all 
the  privileges  of  the  oracles  of  God,  as  entirely, 
as  to  Gentiles  w^ho  had  not  received  these  specific 
revelations  ;  they  apply  to  those  to  whom  the  divine 
oracles  are  still  granted,  as  entirely,  as  to  the  heathen 
who  are  without  this  knowledge  of  God.  As  ex- 
tensively as  the  authority  of  the  precepts  of  the  law 
reach  upon  the  earth,  do  its  charges  of  guilt,  and  its 
denunciations  of  punishment  also  go.  And  if  there 
be  not  an  individual  man  who  is  released  from  the 
obligation  of  loving  God  wn'th  all  his  heart,  there  is 
not  an  individual  wiio  is  not  justly  accused  of  trans- 
gression, and  justly  condemned  to  punishment,  for 
having  refused  to  fulfil  this  universal  obligation. 
"  All  have  sinned,  and  have  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God."  There  is  no  man  wdio  can  say,  "  I  have 
made  my  heart  clean,  I  am  pure  from  my  sin."  The 
proper  operation  of  this  convincing  power  of  the 
law^,  is  therefore  upon  every  human  being.  Its 
broadest  accusations,  and  its  most  fearful  denuncia- 
tions belong  to  every  one  w^ho  hears  me  this  day. 
And  none  can  have  the  least  prospect  of  security, 


86  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.        [lECT.  V. 

by  pleading  exemption  from  the  charges  which  it 
makes.  "  What  things  soever  it  saith,  it  saith  to" 
you.  And  whether  it  comes  in  the  power  of  the 
precept,  or  in  the  terror  of  the  denunciation,  it  fast- 
ens its  iron  grasp  upon  your  souls,  and  will  hold 
you  to  eternity,  unless  there  come  to  your  rescue,  a 
power  of  grace  stronger  than  the  power  of  its  wrath. 
It  speaks  to  the  very  best,  and  least  offending  of  you 
all, — and  it  must  be  heard.  It  would  convince  you 
of  sin.  It  would  shew  you  your  entire  need  of  a 
Saviour.  It  would  compel  you  to  throw  away  all 
deluding  and  destructive  pleas  of  comparative  inno- 
cence in  yourselves.  It  would  bring  you  in  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  a  bitter  sense  of  guilt,  to  cry  aloud 
for  mercy.  It  would  send  you  to  the  blood  of  an 
Almighty  Redeemer,  as  the  only  fountain  which 
can  be  opened  for  sin,  and'  for  unclean ness.  There 
would  it  lead  you  and  leave  you,  as  the  instrument 
of  the  divine  Spirit  for  conviction  of  sin.  But  if 
this  gracious  operation  of  the  law  be  by  any  of  you, 
foolishly  resisted  and  denied,  it  will  operate  yet 
farther,  to  convict  you  before  the  bar  of  God;  to 
compel  you  there  to  see  your  exposure  to  divine 
wrath,  and  eternal  woe;  and  to  draw  from  your 
own  mouths,  speechless  in  your  defence,  an  over- 
whelming confession,  that  your  damnation  is  just. 
For  one  or  the  other  of  these  purposes,  either  for 
mercy  in  a  day  of  grace,  or  for  condemnation  in  a 
day  of  wrath,  the  convincing  power  of  the  law  must 
be  felt  and  understood  by  every  soul  of  man. 

III.  We  may  lastly  consider  this  convincing  power 
of  the  law,  under  the  aspect  of  the  result  to  which  it 
leads.  This  the  Apostle  declares, — "  that  every 
mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  the  whole  world  be- 


LECT.  v.]  CONVINCING     POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  87 

come  guilty  before  God."  The  mouths  of  uncon- 
vinced sinners  are  not  stopped.  Their  complaints 
against  the  unreasonable  strictness  and  severity  of 
the  divine  commandments  are  frequent  and  vehe- 
ment. The  natural  minds  of  men  constantly  rebel 
against  the  authority  and  declarations  of  the  Most 
High  God.  They  do  not  and  cannot  acknowledge, 
that  they  are  bound  to  such  devotion  as  his  demands 
appear  to  require — or  that  they  are  justly  chargeable 
with  guilt,  for  failing  in  that,  which  is  so  repugnant 
to  their  dispositions,  that  its  fulfilment  amounts  to  an 
impossibility.  They  are  found  inventing  a  thousand 
excuses  and  pleas,  for  their  security  from  punish- 
ment. Temptation,  ignorance,  heedlessness,  weak- 
ness, are  all  urged  as  reasons  by  them,  why  they 
should  not  be  dealt  with  upon  a  system  of  such  se- 
verity, but  should  have  some  milder  government, 
and  receive  a  more  extensive  toleration.  But  all 
these  excuses  and  complaints  arise  from  a  want  of 
that  conviction  which  it  is  the  province  of  the  law 
to  impress.  When  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
with  this  ministration  of  the  law,  they  are  convinced 
of  sin,  their  mouths  are  sealed  against  all  excuses 
forever.  The  justice  and  holiness  of  God  become 
so  apparent,  that  they  feel  no  right  to  complain, 
although  they  are  condemned.  The  aggravations 
of  their  guilt  are  so  clearly  manifested,  that  no  ex- 
cuse occurs  to  their  remembrance.  They  are  cast 
down  before  a  God  of  immaculate  purity,  with  a 
spirit  torn  and  bruised,  acknowledging  the  truth  of 
every  accusation,  and  proclaiming  the  entire  justice 
of  every  woe  which  he  has  denounced.  Whatever 
may  be  the  character  of  others,  each  individual  will 
feel,  that  for  himself,  shame  and  confusion  of  face 


8d  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  [leCT.  V. 

belong  to  him,  and  that  God  is  righteous  though  he 
taketh  vengeance. 

If  this  conviction  be  not  awakened  in  the  souls 
of  men  in  their  day  of  grace,  while  it  may  be  salu- 
tary and  effectual,  it  will  certainly  come  upon  them, 
like  a  giant  aroused  from  his  sleep,  in  the  day  of 
judgment.  Confusion  will  cover  them  in  that 
awful  day,  when  God  ariseth  to  shake  terribly 
the  earth,  and  to  repay  vengeance  and  recompense 
to  all  his  enemies.  Then  will  every  impeni- 
tent and  unprofitable  servant  be  speechless,  though 
he  be  bound  hand  and  foot,  and  cast  into  outer 
and  final  darkness  ;  while  the  universe  will  unite 
to  proclaim  the  abiding  and  unchangeable  spot- 
lessness  of  the  Judge  who  thus  solemnly  condemns 
the  guilty. 

But  not  only  will  the  law  thus  stop  every  mouth, 
it  will  also  bring  "  the  whole  world  guilty  before 
God," — or  under  the  condemning  judgment  of  Gk)d, 
convicted  of  sin,  and  destitute  of  all  claim  for 
the  exercise  of  mercy.  This  holy  law  now  an- 
nounces its  requisitions  and  proclaims  its  sanctions, 
that  in  this  bringing  of  a  guilty  world  under  the 
judgment  of  God,  it  may  make  room  for  the  exer- 
cise of  abundant  grace,  and  make  ready  the  souls 
of  sinners  for  the  pardoning  love  of  God.  But  when 
this  mercy  is  rejected,  its  purpose  in  the  same  an- 
nunciations, is  to  open  the  way  for  the  future  display 
of  the  spotless  justice  of  God  in  the  exercise  of  his 
power  of  condemnation  and  punishment.  It  brings 
the  whole  world,  and  every  individual  transgressor 
of  the  world,  under  the  divine  judgment.  Nothing 
can  be  demanded  by  any  but  the  wages  of  sin  which 


LECT.  v.]  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  89 

is  death.  In  passins;  by  every  sinner,  and  leaving 
them  all  to  perish,  God  would  not  be  unjust.  In 
pardoning  and  saving  the  remnant  he  has  chosen, 
he  is  infinitely  gracious  and  merciful.  When  the 
sinner  is  truly  convinced,  he  has  this  view  solemnly 
and  deeply  impressed  upon  his  mind.  He  feels  that 
he  is  under  a  righteous  condemnation,  and  that 
there  can  be  no  reason  found  for  the  exercise  of  any 
pardon  or  compassion  towards  him,  but  in  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  the  love  of  God.  He  looks  in 
this  condition  to  no  other  source,  for  the  rescue  he 
needs,  but  the  free  and  unmerited  grace  of  God  the 
Saviour.  Oppressed  and  condemned,  he  begs  him 
to  undertake  for  him.  He  throws  himself  upon  the 
sufficiency  and  kindness  of  that  Wonderful  Coun- 
sellor, who  has  himself  become  the  end  of  the  law, 
that  he  might  bring  in  an  everlasting  righteousness 
for  guilty  man, — and  in  the  acceptance  of  wdiose 
work  of  merit,  God  can  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of 
all  who  believe  in  him.  When  the  law  works  the 
same  conviction  in  the  conscience  of  the  sinner,  in 
the  dreadful  day  of  retribution,  the  same  result  of 
conscious  desert  of  condemnation  w  ill  be  produced. 
The  w^hole  world  will  come  under  the  condemna- 
tion of  God.  He  will  be  exhibited  undeniably  right- 
eous while  he  judgeth  the  earth.  And  while  not 
a  sinful  being  has  any  claim  to  mercy,  and  the 
hardened  and  impenitent  are  justly  condemned, — 
the  freeness  and  fulness  of  his  divine  redemption 
will  be  gloriously  displayed.  For  every  convicted 
soul  that  in  a  day  of  grace,  has  fled  from  the  law 
to  Christ,  mercy  will  rejoice  against  judgment. 
The  pardoning  love  of  God  and  the  condemning 


90  CONVINCING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  [lECT.    V. 

righteousness  of  God  will  meet  together.  And  he 
will  rejoice  forever  over  a  people,  who  under  this 
condemnation,  have  looked  unto  him  from  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  found  in  him,  a  complete  salva- 
tion. 


LECTURE   VI. 

THE  CONDEMNING  POWER  OF  THE  LAW. 
The  Law  worketh  wrath, — Romans,  iv.  15. 

This  single  sentence  presents  the  whole  subject 
of  the  present  discourse.  It  exhibits  the  condemning 
poicer  of  the  divine  laic,  as  exercised  upon  transgres- 
sors of  its  precepts.  The  Apostle  announces  it  as 
a  fundannental  principle,  from  the  acknowledged 
certainty  of  which,  he  derives  and  establishes  other 
conclusions.  The  blessings  which  the  heirs  of  the 
divine  promise  receive,  he  says,  can  never  be  from 
the  law,  because  "  the  law  worketh  wrath."  To  give 
life  to  sinners  as  their  inheritance,  is  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  its  very  nature,  and  a  thing  impossible  for 
it  to  do.  It  is  as  if  he  should  say  to  the  man  fam- 
ishing with  thirst,  fire  cannot  reliev^e  your  necessity, 
for  fire  produceth  heat,  it  can  never  quench  thirst, 
it  will  make  the  evil  which  you  suffer,  still  the 
worse.  It  is  but  the  amazing  ignorance  and  blind- 
ness of  guilty  man  which  makes  this  assertion  ne- 
cessary.— Yet  it  is  necessary.  We  have  still  to 
warn  multitudes  of  self-justifying  men,  who  persist 
in  looking  to  their  own  obedience,  as  their  ground  of 
hope  before  God,  that  life  cannot  come  to  them  by 
the  law,  for  it  is  no  property  of  the  law  to  give  life 
to  sinners,  "  the  law  worketh  wrath."     This  is  its 


92  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

nature  ;  and  this  is  its  whole  operation  upon  guilty 
men. 

My  present  purpose,  is  to  exhibit  this  peculiar 
power  and  property  of  the  law.  It  stands  forth  in 
faithful  solemnity,  to  warn  blinded  men  against  itself 
And  we  are  to  listen  to  its  declaration  to  transgres- 
sors who  are  seeking  salvation,  '^  it  is  not  in  me." 
We  are  to  speak  of  that  aspect  of  its  character 
which  occasions  it  to  be  called  "  a  fiery  law,"  a 
''  ministration  of  condemnation,"  and  a  "  ministra- 
tion of  death."  This  is  the  only  aspect  of  the  law, 
wiiich  can  be  presented  to  transgressors.  For  inno- 
cent and  obedient  beings  it  is  ordained  unto  life. 
This  was  its  design  and  tendency  towards  man  in 
his  unfallen  state.  Had  man  remained  obedient,  the 
law  w^ould  have  wrought  for  him  an  inheritance  of 
life  eternal.  But  when  man  became  a  transgressor, 
however  unimportant  in  his  own  estimation  was  the 
comparative  fact  of  his  transgression,  his  whole 
relation  to  the  law,  and  the  law's  whole  relation  to 
him,  was  changed.  Henceforth,  its  operation  was 
wrath  alone.  "  By  one  man's  disobedience"  in  one 
command,  "  many  were  made  sinners."  "  By  the 
oflence  of  one,  many  died,  and  judgment  came  upon 
all  men  unto  condemnation."  This  violated  law 
was  the  covenant,  under  which  every  son  of  Adam 
was  born,  and  under  which  every  succeeding  de- 
scendant of  his  has  come  into  the  world.  It  has 
worked  wrath  for  all.  It  has  rolled  down  its  sen- 
tence of  condemnation  from  generation  to  generation. 
Remaining  unchanged  in  its  demand  for  perfect  obe- 
dience, it  has  uttered  forth  an  unchanging  curse 
upon  all  who  have  come  short  of  it.  No  mitigation 
of  the  awful  penalty  for  disobedience,  or  of  the  de- 


LECT.  VI.]         CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  93 

mand  for  entire  submission  can  be  made  in  favour 
of  any  child  of  man.  Every  unconverted  and  un- 
pardoned man  remains  therefore,  of  necessity  a  child 
of  wrath,  and  under  the  burden  of  the  twofold  obli- 
gation, of  a  penalty  which  cannot  be  satisfied,  and  a 
requisition  which  cannot  be  fulfilled.  The  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  having  become  the  end  of  the  law^  for 
righteousness  to  man,  offers  the  only  refuge  from  the 
everlasting  wrath  which  the  law  thus  works.  And 
every  sinner  w  ho  rejects  the  offers  and  the  domin- 
ion of  Christ  in  the  Gospel,  abides  of  his  own 
choice,  under  a  covenant  which  works,  and  can 
w^ork  nothing  but  wrath. 

Mr.  Simeon  forcibly  presents  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject before  us  in  an  illustration  like  the  following. 
"  Tell  me  then,  ye  w^ho  desire  to  be  under  the  law  ; 
do  ye  not  hear  the  law^  1  Does  it  say  anything  to 
you,  but  '  do  this,  and  thou  shalt  live  V  Does  it  set 
before  you  any  alternative,  but  '  cursed  is  he  that 
continueth  not  in  all  things  w^hich  are  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law,  to  do  them  T  Has  it  any  other 
terms  than  these  ?  '  Do  this'  this  w^ath-vvorking 
law  proclaims — '  do  it  all ;  all  w^ithout  exception ; 
continue  it  from  first  to  last,  and  you  shall  live.  But 
a  curse,  an  everlasting  curse  awaits  you,  if  you  of- 
fend in  any  one  particular.'  Plead  what  you  will, 
these  denunciations  are  irreversible  ;  its  terms  can- 
not be  changed.  You  may  say,  '  I  wish  to  obey ;' 
and  it  answers  yeu,  '  tell  me  not  of  your  wishes, 
but  do  it'  '  I  have  endeavoured  to  obey.'  *  Tell 
me  of  no  endeavours,  but  do  it,  or  you  are  cursed.' 
*  I  have  done  it  in  almost  every  particular.'  '  Tell 
me  not  what  you  have  done  almost,  have  you  obeyed 
it  altogether  ?     Have  you  obeyed  it  in  all  things  ? 


94:  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF     THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

if  not,  you  are  cursed.'  '  I  have  for  many  years 
obeyed  it,  and  but  once  only  have  I  transgressed.' 
'  Then  you  are  cursed.  If  you  have  offended  in  one 
point,  you  are  guilty  of  all.'  '  But  I  am  sorry  for 
my  transgressions.'  '  I  cannot  regard  your  sorrow ; 
you  are  under  a  curse.'  *  But  I  will  reform,  and 
never  transgress  again.'  'I  care  nothing  for  your 
reformation :  the  curse  remains  upon  you.'  '  But 
I  will  obey  perfectly  in  future,  if  I  can  find  mercy 
for  the  past.'  '  I  can  have  no  concern  with  your  de- 
terminations for  the  future ;  I  know  no  such  word 
as  mercy ;  my  terms  cannot  be  altered  for  any  one. 
If  you  rise  to  these  terms,  you  will  have  a  right  to 
life,  and  need  no  mercy.  If  you  'fall  short  in  any 
one  particular,  nothing  remains  for  you,  but  everlast- 
ing destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  glory  of  his  power.' "  This  illustration  of  the 
subject  before  us,  is  by  no  means  more  striking,  than 
it  is  accurate. 

St.  Paul  says,  '^  As  many  as  are  of  the  works  of 
the  law,"  or  looking  to  their  own  obedience  to  the 
law  as  their  foundation  for  hope,  "  are  under  a 
curse."  But  this  description  includes  the  whole  of 
those  who  have  not  voluntarily  renounced  their  own 
righteousness,  and  fled  to  the  shelter  which  the  Gos- 
pel opens  in  the  obedience  of  the  Son  of  God  for 
man.  There  is  no  human  being  who  has  ever 
obeyed  the  law.  He  alone,  in  whom  dwelt  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  has  offered  a  perfect 
obedience,  which  is  for  the  justification  of  those 
who  believe  in  him.  All  men  have  sinned,  and 
come  short  of  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  therefore  every 
soul  without  exception,  is  guilty  before  God,  and 
condemned  already.     They  are  under  a  curse  which 


LECT.  VI.]         CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  95 

the  law  cannot  relieve,  and  which,  if  the  only  pos- 
sible remedy  by  faith  in  the  obedience  of  Christ  be 
rejected,  must  remain  on  them  forever.  This  is  a 
simple  statement  of  the  demands  of  the  law,  and  of 
the  actual  condition  of  sinful  man  under  its  sen- 
tence. It  is  utterly  impossible  for  an  apostate  being, 
to  rise  to  its  demands,  or  to  remove  its  sentence.  It 
worketh  therefore  only  wrath  ;  and  warns  men  to 
seek  elsewhere,  for  a  hope  of  life,  which  it  hath  no 
power  to  bestow. 

I.  We  will  first  consider  the  fact  which  the  text 
declares.  ^'  The  law  worketh  wrath."  This  is  the 
precise  statement  of  its  operation.  It  is  the  instru- 
ment of  bringing  man  under  the  just  and  inevitable 
anger  of  God.  It  produces  this  effect,  both  in  the 
obedience  ichich  it  demands^  and  in  the  sentence  ichich 
it  denounces. 

1.  In  the  obedience  which  it  demands.  If  it  were 
a  mere  outward  system,  and  not  a  spiritual  law ;  if^ 
it  referred  wholly  to  open  and  gross  transgressions 
in  men,  it  would  rather  encourage  them  to  cleave  to 
it,  and  to  endeavour  to  meet  its  claims,  that  they 
might  hope  for  the  life  which  they  would  thus  de- 
serve. It  would  not  then  be  the  instrument  of 
wrath,  nor  dissuade  men  from  abiding  by  its  terms. 
But ''  we  know  that  the  law  is  spiritual."  Such  is 
the  exceeding  breadth  of  its  requisitions,  the  extent 
and  perfection  of  the  obedience  which  it  claims,  the 
heart-searching  power  of  its  demands,  that  it  charges 
man  with  guilt,  not  merely  in  open  violation  of  its 
precepts,  but  in  the  deficiencies  of  that  obedience 
which  he  professes  to  render,  the  secret  worthless- 
ness  of  the  best  actions  of  his  life.  If  at  any  time, 
he  really  loves  Gk)d  ;  the  law  asks,  "  does  this  love 


96  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.         [lECT.    VI. 

rise  to  the  full  measure  of  the  precept  which  re- 
quires it  7"  Is  it  with  all  the  heart,  and  mind,  and 
soul,  and  strength  7  If  not,  then  even  this  best  at- 
tainment has  a  stain  of  guilt,  and  there  is  sufficient 
reason  for  its  condemnation.  The  same  remarks 
may  be  made  in  reference  to  all  efforts  of  man  to 
fulfil  the  commands  of  God.  The  defects  in  his 
obedience  are  sin.  The  law  cannot  receive  the  dis- 
position in  place  of  the  act, — or  accept  the  desire  in- 
stead of  the  duty.  It  makes  no  toleration  for  the 
sincerity  of  the  wish,  or  the  effort,  if  there  be  not  a 
faithful  and  entire  fulfilment  of  the  command,  in  the 
utmost  extent  of  its  terms.  It  allows  no  deviation, 
no  weariness,  no  deficiency,  even  for  a  moment,  or 
under  any  circumstances,  to  the  vxry  end  of  life. 
It  presents  as  its  standard,  the  utmost  perfection  of 
character,  and  denounces  as  the  only  alternative  to 
this,  the  death  which  is  the  wages  of  sin.  This  per- 
fection of  character  it  will  have,  or  it  will  receive 
nothing.  If  man  can  fulfil  this  demand,  it  is  well. 
If  he  cannot,  the  law  worketh  wrath  in  every  pre- 
cept. But  this  obedience  man  can  never  render. 
And  therefore  in  the  inexorable  character  of  its 
claims,  the  law  brings  inevitable  condemnation  upon 
the  guilty,  and  thus  lifts  up  its  voice  in  a  faithful 
warning  against  the  indulgence  of  hope  by  a  com- 
pliance with  its  terms.  It  urges  men  to  fly  from 
itself  to  him  who  is  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  who 
has  fulfilled  its  righteousness,  and  is  able  to  give 
repentance  and  forgiveness  of  sins.  The  flaming 
sword  which  guarded  the  entrance  of  Paradise, 
keeping  man  from  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life,  and 
the  terrors  of  Mount  Sinai,  with  the  fence  which 
was  placed  around  it,  and  the  strict  prohibitions 


LECT.  VI.]         CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  0*7 

which  were  given  against  any  attempt  to  break 
through  and  gaze,  all  marked  the  impossibility  of 
gaining  access  to  God,  and  life  with  him,  by  any 
way  which  the  law  could  open.  Moses  beheld  this 
terrible  exhibition  of  its  holiness  when  he  said,  "I 
exceedingly  fear  and  quake."  And  when  self-con- 
fident men  are  awakened  to  a  view  of  the  same 
character  of  the  law,  in  its  extreme  opposition  to 
themselves,  such  will  be  also  the  feeling  which  will 
take  possession  of  them.  Yet  every  man  who  rests 
his  hope  on  any  aspect  of  a  righteousness  of  his  own, 
shuts  himself  up  to  fulfil  all  the  law's  demands,  or 
to  abide  by  its  eternal  penalty.  His  salvation  must 
be  of  works  unmixed  with  ^race.  If  he  fail  in  any 
compliance,  he  has  no  hope.  He  may  not  realize 
this  condition.  Alas,  he  does  not,  or  he  would  not 
abide  in  it  for  a  single  hour.  But  his  vain  and  ig- 
norant mind  shuts  him  up  to  this  dreadful  necessity. 
And  when  his  life  is  compared  with  the  law,  by 
which  he  has  chosen  to  abide,  every  precept  in 
it  worketh  wrath,  and  pronounces  condemnation 
against  him. 

2.  This  condenming  power  of  the  law  is  still  fur- 
ther manifested,  in  the  sentence  which  it  passes  upon 
the  guilty,  and  of  which  it  forewarns  them  with  the 
utmost  fidelity.  In  this  too,  it  urges  man  to  flee 
from  all  attempts,  and  all  hope,  to  obtain  life  by  any 
personal  satisfaction  for  his  offences.  The  penalty 
of  disobedience  in  every  single  instance,  is  death. 
But  death,  whether  of  the  body,  or  of  the  soul,  is  a 
state  from  which  there  is  no  return,  but  by  the  di- 
rect and  immediate  interposition  of  divine  power. 
When  man  is  dead,  he  is  forever  dead,  unless  the 
Almighty  Being  who  made  him,  shall  restore  him 

5 


98  CONDEMNING    POWER    OP    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

again  to  life.  The  death  which  comes  upon  a  sin- 
gle transgression,  is  therefore,  everlasting  death. 
There  is  no  sanction  or  penalty  less  than  this,  pre- 
sented in  the  law.  It  reveals  this,  the  death  of  the 
soul, — the  everlasting  separation  from  God  under 
his  condemnation,  the  indignation  and  wrath,  tribu- 
lation and  anguish,  which  make  up  such  a  state, — 
as  the  consequence  of  transgression, — and  of  every 
transgression.  It  exhibits  all  mankind  as  guilty  be- 
fore God,  and  announces  this,  as  the  necessary  result 
of  their  guilt,  and  leaves  them  under  it.  It  is  vain 
to  imagine,  and  absurd  to  speak,  of  a  temporary 
death,  as  if  there  were  power  in  the  dead,  to  restore 
themselves  to  the  condition  they  have  lost ;  or  of  a 
correcting  and  purgative  death,  as  if  there  were  in 
the  nature  of  a  curse,  and  an  accursed  condition,  an 
influence  to  purify  and  renovate  the  character  of  its 
subjects.  This  death  is  punitive  ;  and  so  far  as  the 
law  is  concerned,  it  is  Jinal.  Its  victims  are  passed 
over,  and  reckoned  no  more  among  the  living.  Cer- 
tainly God  has  provided  a  remedy,  and  offered  it  in 
great  mercy  to  man.  But  this  remedy  is  not  in  the 
law,  or  in  man's  obedience,  or  in  God's  change  of 
purpose.  It  is  in  the  perfect  work  and  righteous- 
ness of  Christ,  ''  both  God  and  man,"  which  is  of- 
fered freely  to  man's  acceptance,  as  the  exercise  and 
revelation  of  divine  mercy  ;  and  by  which  the  law 
is  honoured,  its  victims  are  released,  and  man  is 
made  secure.  In  this  righteousness,  man  lives  for- 
ever. But  in  works  of  his  own,  and  under  the  oper- 
ation of  the  law,  the  curse  which  is  upon  him, 
abides  forever,  and  his  death  is  an  everlasting  death. 
While  the  law  proclaims  its  simple,  uniform,  irre- 
versible sentence,  it  asks  of  guilty  man,  "  Who  can. 


LECT.  VI.]         CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  99 

dwell  with  the  devouring  fire?  Who  can  dwell 
with  everlasting  burnings  ?"  "  Hast  thou  an  arm 
like  God  ?  Canst  thou  thunder  with  a  voice  like 
him  ?"  '^  Can  thine  heart  endure,  or  can  thine 
hands  be  strong,  in  the  days  that  I  shall  deal  with 
thee  ?  I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it,  and  will  do  it.'' 
The  law  thus  brings  up  every  soul  of  man  before 
an  unchangeable  God,  under  the  charge  of  guilt. 
It  lays  its  penalty  of  eternal  death  upon  each.  It 
requires  their  endurance  of  this  penalty.  -  It  can 
offer  no  possible  mitigation  or  redress.  Thus  it 
worketh  wrath — wrath  only, — wrath  forever.  And 
the  sinner  might  as  reasonably  seek  for  shelter  and 
rest  for  his  body  in  a  burning  fiery  furnace,  as  hope 
for  life  and  salvation  for  his  soul  in  his  own  compli- 
ance with  the  demands  of  the  law. 

When  God  brought  the  Israelites  to  the  land 
which  he  had  promised  them,  he  required  their 
united  and  cordial  assent  to  this  terrible  condem- 
nation of  the  law.  The  Levites  proclaimed  from 
Mount  Ebal, ''  cursed  is  he  that  continueth  not  in  all 
the  words  of  this  law  to  do  them."  And  all  the 
people  were  commanded  to  say  "  Amen,"  be  it  so,  it 
is  right  and  just  that  it  should  be  so.  But  how 
very  few  among  those  who  listen  to  this  solemn  lan- 
guage of  the  divine  law,  are  prepared  to  unite  in  this 
divinely  appointed  testimonial-  They  are  far  more 
ready  to  think,  that  such  exhibitions  as  have  now 
been  made  of  its  character,  are  overstrained  and  un- 
just- They  cannot  believe  on  the  one  side,  in  Jhis 
perfect  holiness  of  the  divine  commands,  or  on  the 
other,  in  the  actual  and  deep  guiltiness  of  their  own 
character.  But,  search  the  Scriptures  whether 
these  things  are  so.     Ask  and  see,  what  the  Lord 


100  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

God  hath  spoken  upon  this  subject.  Under  his 
guidance  and  instruction,  but  one  sentiment  would 
pervade  the  minds  of  men.  The  whole  world,  con- 
scious of  their  guilt,  would  be  ready  to  cry  out  in  a 
thorough  acknowledgment,  and  approbation  of  the 
truth,  "  Amen,  amen."  It  is  the  blindness  and 
ignorance  of  man  alone,  which  hides  the  all-impor- 
tant truth  from  him,  and  persuades  him  to  rest  upon 
the  miserable  works  of  his  own  performance. 

3.  But  while  the  law  worketh  wrath,  both  in  the 
holiness  of  its  precepts,  and  in  the  solemn  fidelity 
of  its  threatenings,  this  condemning  power  is  to  be 
further  considered,  as  an  eternally  abiding  j^oicer. 
In  man's  first  transgression,  condemnation  comes 
upon  him.  This  was  the  fact  with  the  first  human 
transgression.  That  transgression  was  not  only  a 
personal  act,  but  also  the  act  of  a  representative  for 
men, — and  the  condemnation  which  came  for  it, 
came  upon  all  men  for  whom  he  stood.  But  this 
involuntary  and  inherited  condemnation,  which  was 
received  from  the  first  Adam,  has  been  removed,  by 
the  equally  extensive  redemption,  which  has  been 
wrought  for  men  by  the  second  Adam,  in  the  merci- 
ful work  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  every  member  of 
the  family  of  man  is  thus  released  from  all  condem- 
nation, other  than  that  which  is  for  his  own  guilt. 
Still  the  principle  remains  the  same.  Man's  first 
trangression  brings  him  into  condemnation  before 
God.  The  law  condemns  him  to  wrath,  and  there 
he  abides.  Its  power  is  an  eternal  power,  and.  holds 
the  soul  that  comes  under  it  forever,  unless  some 
satisfying  provision  of  grace  furnishes  relief  It 
gives  strength  to  sin  to  hold  the  sinner  in  captivity 
in  this  just  condemnation.     The  sinner  who  is  now 


LECT.  VI.]         CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  101 

condemned,  is  condemned  forever.  The  wrath  of 
God  abideth  on  him.  But  who  can  adequately 
speak  of  this  power  of  the  law  to  condemn  7  No 
frail  man  can  understand,  or  describe  it!  It  stretches 
out,  into  all  the  dark  and  dreadful  scenes  of  an  eter- 
nal world,  where  the  bitterness  of  anguish  for  folly- 
past,  the  hateful  and  rebellious  spirit  which  present 
guilt  produces,  and  the  perpetual  exclusion  from  all 
the  light  and  comfort  which  the  presence  of  God 
imparts,  display  in  fallen  angels,  and  in  condemned 
men,  the  wrath  which  the  law  works  forever.  Of 
all  this  misery,  the  present  transgressor  is  even  now, 
the  legal  and  certain  heir.  His  first  offence  binds 
him  over  to  this.  And  though  divine  forbearance 
lingers  out  his  life,  that  offers  of  mercy  may  plead 
with  his  soul,  the  law  has  settled  its  eternal  relation 
to  him ;  and  he  remains,  if  he  refuse  the  mercy 
which  is  offered  in  the  Gospel,  under  its  power,  in 
everlasting  condemnation.  This  is  the  condemning 
power  of  the  law.  It  is  holy,  just,  and  good.  All 
life  must  come  from  an  obedience  to  its  precepts. 
But  disobedience  delivers  over  the  sinner  to  its 
penalty,  in  everlasting  death.  It  hath  become  the 
adversary  to  the  transgressor ;-— ^and  "  the  adversary 
delivers  him  to  the  Judge,  and  the  Judge  delivers 
him  to  the  officer,  to  be  cast  into  prison."  "  Verily, 
verily  I  say  unto  you,"  says  our  divine  Redeemer, 
"  he  shall  by  no  means  come  out  thence,  till  he  hath 
paid  the  uttermost  farthing." 

II.  Having  considered  the  facts  of  this  condemning 
power  of  the  law,  we  may  consider  more  particu- 
larly, our  personal  connection  with  it. 

Every  child  of  man  is  born  under  a  curse,  in  the 
relation,  in  which  this  whole  fallen  family  stands 


102  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

to  an  offended  Creator.  And  though  every  child 
of  Adam  is  also  a  partaker  of  a  free  redemption  from 
this  curse,  in  the  death  of  Christ  for  all,  yet  every 
man  who  goes  forward  in  a  single  step  of  voluntary 
rebellion,  assumes  again  the  whole  burden  of  this 
cunse  upon  himself;  justifies  by  his  own  act  the 
disobedience  which  deserves  it,  and  comes  again 
under  the  curse  before  God.  And  yet,  every  un- 
converted man,  though  in  this  condition  of  ruin, 
having  never  renounced  his  rebellious  course,  nor 
sought  for  pardon  and  security  in  the  appointed  Re- 
deemer, is  hoping  and  attempting,  to  gain  eternal 
life  by  his  own  obedience  to  God.  There  are  but 
two  possible  methods  of  salvation  for  man ;  by  grace 
and  by  works, — or  by  God's  merciful  favour,  and 
man's  own  right.  Between  these  two  man  must 
choose,  and  he  does  choose,  for  himself  All  men 
who  are  ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  and  refuse 
the  free  offers  of  his  grace  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  are 
attempting  to  work  out  a  righteousness  for  them- 
selves. Their  whole  hope  of  salvation  therefore 
depends  upon  their  ability  to  do  it.  This  personal 
connection,  all  unconverted  men  have  with  the  sol- 
emn subject  we  have  considered.  The  moment 
that  men  turn  to  anything  which  they  have  done,  as 
their  ground  of  hope,  or  the  reason  for  their  accept- 
ance with  God,  they  choose  the  law  for  their  cove- 
nant, and  become  debtors  to  fulfil  all  its  demands. 
They  throw  themselves  upon  the  simple  alternative 
of  perfect  and  perpetual  obedience,  spotless  from  the 
commencement  and  spotless  forever ;  or  chains  of 
everlasting  darkness.  This  is  the  condition  and 
stand  of  all  who  are  not  in  the  covenant  of  grace, 


LECT.  VI.]    CONDEMNING  POWER  OF  THE  LAW.         103 

spiritually  united  to  Jesus  the  mediator  of  this  new 
covenant. 

There  are  many  varieties  among  this  large  class 
of  persons.  Some  are  looking  for  their  justification, 
altogether  to  the  character  of  their  own  works. 
They  cannot  understand  why  good  works  should  be 
required  of  men,  if  they  cannot  furnish  them  an  ac- 
ceptance >vith  God.  When  the  divine  assertion  is 
made,  that  "  by  the  works  of  the  law,  shall  no  flesh 
be  justified,"  it  seems  to  them,  to  set  the  necessity 
of  obedience  entirely  aside,  and  to  encourage  man  in 
all  transgressions.  Such  persons  throw  themselves 
entirely  upon  the  works  of  the  law.  They  agree  to 
abide  simply  by  its  terms.  They  expose  themselves 
therefore  to  the  utmost  of  its  demands, — and  they 
voluntarily  assume  the  whole  burden  of  wrath  which 
it  must  bring  upon  transgressors.  Their  everlasting 
condition  must  be  determined  by  its  principles  alone, 
and  their  destruction  becomes  inevitable. 

Others  do  not  professedly  renounce  all  relation  to 
the  Saviour  of  men.  They  acknowledge  that  we 
must  be  indebted  to  him,  at  least  in  part,  for  our 
salvation.  They  assert  their  partial  dependence 
upon  him,  and  perhaps  they  desire  to  cultivate  it. 
They  would  connect  the  merits  of  his  atonement 
with  the  supposed  worth  of  their  own  obedience. 
The  entire  impossibility  of  such  an  expedient  they 
do  not  perceive.  They  do  not  understand,  how  the 
one  makes  void  the  other.  They  do  not  attempt  to 
determine  exactly  where  or  how,  they  are  united 
together.  Where  that  point  in  human  works  is 
fixed,  in  the  attainment  of  which  they  may  be  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  none  having  done  as  well  as  they 
could :  or  what  measure  of  uniform  sincerity  shall 


104  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

be  received,  none  being  entirely  so, — God  has  not 
defined,  and  they  pretend  not  to  know.  They 
blindly  assume  this  ground.  But  in  doing  it, — they 
equally  with  the  others  reject  a  redemption  which 
is  wholly  of  grace,  and  throw  themselves  entirely 
under  the  power  of  the  law,  unable  to  produce  the 
obedience  which  it  demands,  and  compelled  there- 
fore to  bear  the  wrath  which  it  works.     , 

There  are  others  who  refine  upon  this  system, 
but  are  still  persuaded  they  must  do  something  for 
themselves.  They  enter  into  a  kind  of  compromise 
or  agreement  with  the  Lord  of  all,  that  they  will 
render  him  obedience,  if  he  will  bestow  upon  them 
salvation.  They  make  their  promise  of  amendment 
the  reason  for  his  forgiveness.  They  do  not  ex- 
pressly unite  their  merits  with  his,  but  they  make 
their  obedience  the  reason  for  which  his  merits 
should  be  bestowed  upon  them,  or  the  reason  w^hy 
they  may  have  hope  in  him,  and  the  foundation 
upon  which  they  expect  him  to  be  merciful  unto 
them.  They  do  not  remember,  that  they  have  no 
obedience  to  bring  him;  that  there  is  nothing  in 
them  but  guilt ;  that  tliey  have  no  good  thing  of 
their  own.  Thus  they  rest  not  a  simple  dependence 
on  the  sovereign  and  conquering  power,  and  the  all- 
sufficient  merit,  of  a  divine  Saviour.  They  are  not 
prepared  to  embrace  with  thankfulness,  a  salvation 
wholly  without  money  and  without  price;  or  to 
glory  in  Christ  alone. 

Even  beyond  this,  error  upon  this  subject  is  often 
found.  Men  are  willing  in  terms  to  ascribe  all  the 
glory  to  Christ ;  but  they  want  some  evidence,  some 
warrant  in  themselves,  for  their  trust  in  him.  They 
are  not  willing  to  take  the  recorded  freeness  of  the 


LECT.  VI.]        CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  105 

provision,  and  the  openness  of  the  promise,  for  their 
simple  warrant  of  trusting  wholly  and  joyfully  in 
Christ.  Either  they  profess  themselves  afraid  to 
trust  in  him,  because  they  are  so  vile,  and  therefore 
they  will  reform  and  amend  before  they  venture  to 
hope  in  him, — thinking  that  he  cannot  receive  such 
sinners  as  they  ; — or  they  have  comfort  and  hope  in 
him,  because  they  never  were  inordinate  transgres- 
sors, or  because  they  find  in  themselves  the  evidence 
of  a  change  of  mind  and  character  which  indicate 
a  true  repentance.  But  both  the  principle  and  the 
result  of  all  these  delusions  are  the  same.  They 
grow  out  of  a  spirit  of  self-righteousness  ;  and  they 
throw  the  sinner  wholly  back  upon  the  claims  of 
the  law.  Salvation  must  be  all  of  grace,  or  all  of 
works.  And  any  attempt  to  blend  the  two  in  any 
measure,  destroys  the  whole  idea  of  grace ;  for  as 
far  as  man  has  anything  to  offer,  the  Saviour  is  re- 
quired to  offer  so  much  the  less.  It  exposes  man  to 
the  one  simple  demand  of  the  law,  under  the  alter- 
native of  its  endless  wrath  in  his  failure  to  meet  it. 
This  is  your  simple  connection  with  this  condem- 
ning power  of  the  law.  If  you  do  not  come  in  entire 
and  unqualified  self-renunciation, — as  poor,  and  out- 
cast, and  perishing,  to  the  single  atoning  sacrifice, 
and  the  perfect  obedience,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
— you  must  stand  by  the  law,  and  meet  its  alterna- 
tive requisitions.  If  you  are  not  willing  freely  to 
accept  the  work  of  a  perfect  surety,  offered  in  the 
covenant  of  grace, — you  must,  in  your  own  persons, 
fulfil  the  utmost  demands,  or  bear  the  eternal  pen- 
alty, of  a  covenant  of  works.  These  terms  cannot 
be  altered.  They  must  be  fully  and  completely 
met.     O,  that  a  view  of  them  might  lead  you  to 

5* 


106  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF     THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

seek  to  be  found,  only  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, — 
not  having  your  ow^n  righteousness  which  is  of  the 
law,  but  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God,  by 
faith, — and  to  count  everything  but  loss,  for  Christ's 
sake  ! 

III.  But  if  this  connection  of  ourselves  with  the 
condemning  power  of  the  law  be  a  fact, — if  it  be 
true,  that  it  works  wrath  to  an  extent  so  unlimited, 
what  deep  humiliation  of  soul  becomes  us  all,  in 
view  of  its  holy  and  unrelaxing  claims  !  What  an 
amount  of  curses  it  suspends  over  the  head  of  an 
unpardoned  sinner !  We  have  seen  that  they  are 
not  our  outward  transgressions  alone,  which  expose 
us  to  the  righteous  anger  of  God.  The  wrath  of 
God  is  revealed  against  all  ungodliness  and  unright- 
eousness of  men.  And  every  omission  and  defect 
in  duty,  as  well  as  every  act  of  positive  disobedience, 
must  have  its  just  recompense  of  reward.  If  it 
should  be  granted  therefore,  that  our  lives  are  blame- 
less in  the  eyes  of  men,  still  our  iniquities  will  iiave 
grown  over  our  heads,  and  have  become  wholly  in- 
numerable. In  comparison  with  many  of  our  fel- 
low men,  our  characters  may  appear  exemplary  and 
worthy ;  but  in  the  sight  of  God,  there  is  no  respect 
of  persons.  If  he  should  behold  in  us,  less  outward 
gross  iniquity,  he  may  see  far  more  than  an  equiva- 
lent for  this,  in  secret  spiritual  sins,  by  no  means 
less  hateful  in  his  sight.  Certainly  we  are  not  un- 
derstood as  saying,  that  gross  outward  transgressions 
add  nothing  to  the  guilt  of  man  ;  but  that  in  the  ab- 
sence of  these,  God  may  see  secret  transgression  in 
the  heart,  more  than  sufficient  to  make  up  for  the 
absence  of  them.  Our  true  humiliation  will  be  pro- 
duced, by  beholding  the  defectiveness  of  our  best 


LECT.  VI.]         CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.  107 

services.  Look  upon  this  deep  deficiency  in  duty. 
Behold  it  in  its  aggravated  character,  as  against  a 
God  of  infinite  love  and  mercy ;  against  a  Saviour 
who  has  assumed  our  nature,  and  laid  down  his  life 
for  us  ;— against  a  Holy  Comforter  who  has  been 
pleading  with  our  hearts,  to  guide  us  in  right  paths, 
and  to  lead  us  unto  true  repentance.  Behold  it  also, 
as  persisted  in,  against  abundant  light  and  knowl- 
edge;  against  vows  and  resolutions  and  promises ; 
— agaiuvst  divine  judgments  and  mercies ;  and  con- 
tinued in  without  repentance  or  shame,  for  many 
years.  Behold  it  as  a  cruel  rejection  of  the  bound- 
less love  of  a  crucified  Redeemer;  as  a  bold  and 
violent  determination  to  stand  upon  our'own  ground, 
and  to  abide  by  our  own  merits.  Shall  we  not  see 
in  all  this,  adequate  reason  for  humiliation  7  Shall 
we  not  see,  that  the  law  justly  works  wrath  against 
us,  and  that  our  guilt  must  sink  us  into  everlasting 
perdition,  unless  God  shall  wonderfully  interpose, 
and  cause  his  grace  to  superabound,  where  sin  hath 
abounded  so  fearfully  7  If  we  fairly  consider  our 
own  characters  as  thus  displayed,  we  shall  see,  that 
to  call  ourselves  the  chief  of  sinners,  is  not  merely 
an  humble  expression  of  the  lips,  but  is  the  real 
character  of  our  souls.  The  very  best  man  among 
us,  knows  far  more  evil  in  himself,  than  he  can 
know  of  any  other, — and  sees  a  depth  of  guilt  in 
his  own  heart,  concealed  from  the  view  of  other 
men,  which  is  sufficient  to  overwhelm  him  in  ever- 
lasting condemnation. 

If  you  fairly  bring  up  your  characters  to  this  di- 
vine standard,  you  will  feel  compelled  to  cry  for 
mercy,  like  Peter  sinking  in  the  waters,  "  Lord,  save 
me,  or  I  perish  !"     Others  may  be  amazed  at  your 


108  CONDEMNING    POWER    OF    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  VI. 

distress,  and  think  it  unnecessary ;  but  you  will 
know  the  plague  of  your  own  heart,  and  feel  com- 
pelled to  lie  down  before  God,  in  the  deepest  self- 
abasement.  O,  that  you  could  be  brought  to  this 
state  of  mind  !  and  have  it  as  a  settled  principle  in 
your  minds,  that  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  no  flesh 
can  be  justified.  Listen  to  this  law,  though  it  con- 
demns you.  If  its  warnings  are  alarming,  they  are 
still  indispensable ;  and  it  is  far  better  that  you 
should  be  warned  in  season,  that  your  house  is  built 
upon  the  sand,  than  be  suffered  to  remain  in  a  false 
peace,  until  you  perish  beneath  its  ruins.  It  is  a 
fatal  delusion  which  shuts  your  hearts  against  the 
acceptance  of  a  Saviour,  who  is  the  completion  of 
this  fiery  law,  for  righteousness  to  your  souls.  This 
is  the  only  hope  presented  to  you.  And  while  the 
law  drives  you  thus  away  from  itself,  humbled, 
guilty,  and  condemned;  it  does  not  thrust  you  upon 
an  ocean  of  uncertainty,  to  find  by  chance,  and 
where  you  can,  a  remedy  for  your  disease,  and  a 
satisfaction  for  your  want.  It  acknowledges  a  right- 
eousness in  your  anointed  substitute,  adequate  to  its 
utmost  demands.  It  bids  you  seek  to  him  and  live. 
It  assures  you  that  he  can  preach  gkd  tidings, 
though  it  cannot.  It  acknowledges  its  own  weak- 
ness, and  proclaims  his  power.  And  it  bids  you 
flee  from  the  wrath  which  it  must  work  forever,  to 
find  an  everlasting  righteousness  in  him. 


LECTURE  VII. 

THE  LAW  A  GUIDE  TO  CHRIST. 

Wherefore  the  law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  we 
might  be  justified  by  faith.— Galatians,  hi.  24. 

The  subject  presented  by  this  text  is  of  great  im- 
portance, and  peculiar  interest.  It  displays  the 
instrument  by  which  a  sinful  man  is  directed  to  a 
Saviour's  feet,  and  the  vast  benefit  which  he  gains 
by  following  this  direction.  However  severe  and 
searching  may  be  the  method  of  guidance,  the  result 
to  which  it  leads  is  most  desirable  and  important; 
and  the  very  severity  which  has  led  to  this  result, 
tends  to  enhance  the  comfort  which  is  derived  from 
it.  The  chill  and  darkness  of  the  night  which  has 
passed,  make  the  beams  of  the  rising  sun  the  more 
welcome  and  the  more  delightful.  So  the  deep 
anguish  and  darkness,  through  which  the  law  leads 
the  convicted  sinner  in  its  awful  denunciations,  make 
the  consolations  which  abound  in  Christ,  who  has 
met  all  these  denunciations,  the  more  sufficient,  and 
the  more  precious. 

The  apostle  speaks  of  the  law  in  our  text,  as  a 
guide  to  Christ.  He  has  shewed  its  total  inability 
to  give  life  to  a  fallen  man,  and  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  that  gracious  redemption  which  God  has  re- 
vealed in  his  own  Son.  He  describes  the  condition 
of  all,  in  whose  hearts,  these  glad  tidings  of  re- 


110  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  [lECT.  VII. 

demption  have  not  been  received,  as  one  of  neces- 
sary and  entire  ruin,  from  which  there  is  no  other 
way  of  escape,  than  that  which  is  here  laid  open. 
The  law  bringing  a  curse  upon  transgressors,  and 
offering  no  pardon  for  sin,  shuts  them  up,  destitute 
of  all  hope  but  the  blessed  one  which  is  offered  in 
this  covenant  of  grace.     It  imprisons  them  under  its 
curse.     It  demands  a  full  satisfaction  for  their  guilt. 
It  rejects  all  their  offers,  and  all  their  pleas.     It 
allows  no  method  of  escape,  but  that  which  grace 
has  thus  opened  in  the  accepted  satisfaction '  of  a 
Saviour.     It  becomes  thus  a  guide  to  Christ.     All 
men  as  sinners  against  God,  are  shut  up  in  this  im- 
prisonment.    Their  eternal  ruin  in  it  becomes  in- 
evitable.    They  cannot  live  by  any  works  of  their 
own.     They  cannot  endure  the  certain  penalty  of 
their  transgressions.     They  cannot  escape  from  it, 
by  any  power  which  they  possess.     In  the  midst  of 
this  darkness  and  despair,  the  Lord  Jesais  Christ  is 
revealed  as  the  great  object  of  faith,  offering  freely 
as  the  gift  of  divine  grace,  that  which  man  could 
never  obtain  by  any  worthiness  of  his  own.     When 
this  door  of  grace  is  opened,  and  this  messenger  from 
God,  proclaiming  an  entire  satisfaction  for  sin,  looses 
the  chains  of  sinners,  and  bids  them  go  in  peace, 
they  are  no  longer  shut  up  under  the  law.     If  they 
hear  the  voice,  and  follow  the  guidance  of  the  re- 
vealed Saviour,  they  are  under  grace,  and  can  come 
no  more  into  condemnation,  but  have  passed  from 
death  unto  life.     If  they  refuse  his  offered  mercy, 
then,  "  this   is  their  condemnation,  that  light  has 
come  into  the  world,  but  they  have  loved  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil." 
The  apostle  speaks  of  this  guiding  power  of  the 


LECT.  VII.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  Ill 

law,  both  as  a  dispensation,  and  as  a  personal  in- 
strument. As  a  dispensation,  it  held  all  mankind 
in  bondage,  until  Christ  was  revealed  among  them, 
in  the  fulness  of  his  grace,  as  its  end  and  satisfac- 
tion. In  him  the  righteousness  of  the  law  was  per- 
fectly fulfilled.  The  demands  of  its  covenant  were 
entirely  answered  and  satisfied.  The  world  which 
it  had  condemned  became  a  redeemed  and  purchased 
world,  by  the  propitiation  which  he  had  made  for 
the  sins  of  men.  When  this  great  object  of  promise 
and  faith  had  come,  and  had  completed  his  work, 
the  dispensation  of  the  law  was  satisfied,  and  hon- 
oured ;  and  the  world  for  whom  he  lived  and  died, 
came  under  the  provisions  of  the  covenant  of  grace. 
Each  subject  of  the  violated  law,  had  liberty  offered 
him,  in  the  completing  Gospel ;  and  whosoever 
would,  might  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely.  As 
an  instrument  for  personal  guidance,  the  law  still  re- 
mains, in  its  record,  and  in  its  application,  a  school- 
master to  bring  sinners  unto  Christ.  The  Holy 
Spirit  uses  it  for  this  purpose,  and  by  it  he  leads  the 
souls  of  sinners,  to  embrace  the  blessed  and  glorious 
hope,  which  is  offered  to  them  freely,  in  the  obedi- 
ence and  death  of  the  divine  Redeemer.  This  per- 
sonally guiding  poicer  of  the  law  as  a  divine  instru- 
ment, is  the  subject  of  the  present  discourse.  We 
may  consider  first  the  method  by  which  the  law  ful- 
fils this  office, — and  secondly,  the  purpose  for  which 
it  is  done. 

I.  We  will  consider  the  method  in  which  this  guid- 
ing power  of  the  law  is  exercised.  "  It  is  our  school- 
master, to  bring  us  unto  Christ." 

1.  By  completely  shutting  ils  out  from  every  other 
hope.    The  demands  of  the  law  must  be  fully  an- 


/H^ 


112  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST,  [lECT.    VII. 

svvered,  before  it  can  allow  any  hope  of  life.  They 
can  never  be  set  aside.  They  are  as  unalterable  as 
the  character  of  God  himself  The  law  is  holy,  its 
commands  cannot  therefore  be  abated.  It  is  just, 
its  sanctions  therefore  cannot  be  mitigated.  It  is 
good,  and  it  must  remain  eternally  good,  whatever 
may  become  of  those  who  have  transgressed,  and 
therefore  dislike  it.  Its  direct  purpose  and  tendency 
in  all  that  it  requires,  is  to  promote  the  honour  of 
God,  and  to  advance  tlie  happiness  of  men.  If  it 
becomes  to  any  creature,  an  occasion  of  sorrow,  it  is 
only  through  his  own  perverseness  in  violating  its 
commands.  This  is  the  actual  character  of  the  law. 
If  therefore  the  sinner  would  have  hope  by  it,  he 
must  come  up  to  the  measure  of  its  requirements. 
He  must  bear  the  curse  which  it  has  denounced, 
and  obey  the  commands  which  it  imposes.  But 
when  he  looks  at  these  demands;  when  he  surveys 
this  awful  curse,  and  examines  these  holy  precepts  ; 
when  he  is  convinced  of  their  unalterable  character  ; 
he  sees  the  utter  impossibility  of  his  ever  meeting 
them  in  his  own  person.  He  has  therefore  no  hope. 
He  has  no  alternative,  but  to  lie  down  and  perish 
forever.  The  idea  of  a  substitute  to  fulfil  these  ob- 
ligations for  him,  and  of  the  possible  acceptance  of 
this  substitute  in  his  behalf,  would  never  come  to 
man  under  the  law.  But  grace  having  revealed 
such  a  substitute,  in  the  pei:son  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  declared  that  the  Father  is  well  pleased 
in  him,  the  law  drives  man  to  find  him.  It  shuts 
him  out  from  all  prospect  of  salvation  in  any  other 
quarter.  It  speaks  to  him  nothing  but  indignation 
and  wrath.  It  thus  forces  his  mind  to  think  of  some 
one  who  can  fulfil  all  righteousness  for  him,  and  set 


LECT.  VII.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  113 

him  free  from  the  curse  which  it  impends  over  him. 
He  hears  it  announcing  to  him,  if  you  can  undergo 
the  full  punishment  for  sin,  you  shall  be  set  free 
from  the  curse ;  and  if  you  can  offer  a  perfect  obedi- 
ence in  holiness,  you  shall  be  justified   and   live. 
But  these  requisitions  are  as  deep  as  hell,  and  high 
as  heaven,  what  can  he  do  ?     He  hears  the  law 
again  announcing,  as  the  instrument  of  divine  guid- 
ance to  Christ,  if  you  can  find  one  who  is  able  and 
willing  to  do  these  for  you,  you  shall  still  not  die, 
but  live.     It  thus  drives  him  from  himself,  and  puts 
him  upon  the  search  for  some  such  Redeemer  and 
friend.     While  it  absolutely  shuts  him  out  from  all 
other  hope,  it  hints  to  him,  that  hope  may  still  be 
found,  in  the  revelation  from  God  of  this  plan  of 
grace  ;  and  thus  it  becomes  a  teacher  to  his  soul  to 
lead  him  to  Christ.     It  has  shut  him  up  to  this  al- 
ternative ;  he  must  find  a  sufficient  surety  and  Sav- 
iour, or  he  must  lie  in  his  prison  until  he  has  paid 
the  uttermost  farthing.     This  is  the  first  step  in  the 
personal  guidance  of  a  sinner  to  Christ.     He  is  con- 
vinced that  he  must  have  a  Saviour,  because  he 
cannot  save  himself;  and  his  awakened  conscience 
cries  out  in  anguish,  "  Wherewith  shall  I  come  be- 
fore the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before  the  High  God  ? 
Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  7" 
2.  The  Law  shews  him  the  character  and  quali- 
ficadons  which  he  must  find  in  the  Saviour  upon 
ivhom  he  can  securely  rely.     He  must  be  one  compe- 
tent to  fulfil  all  the  requisitions  which  this  holy  law 
has  made  ;  able  to  bear  the  load  of  infinite  wrath 
and  punishment,  and  capable  of  accomplishing  and 
offering  a  spotless  obedience.     He  must  not  only  be 
capable  of  doing  all  this  in  fact,  but  must  be  under 


114  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  [lECT.  VII. 

no  obligations  to  do  it  in  his  own  nature  and  con- 
dition, and  competent  therefore  to  undertake  it  in 
behalf  of  others.  But  this  can  be  no  created  Sav- 
iour. A  creature,  though  the  very  highest  intelli- 
gence w^iich  God  hath  formed,  being  still  limited  irt 
his  power,  and  infinitely  beneath  the  Being  who 
hath  formed  him,  w^ould  sink  forev  er  under  the  wrath 
of  God.  There  is  no  material  difference  in  this 
adaptation,  or  rather,  this  total  want  of  all  adapta- 
tion, between  the  highest  created  being  and  man 
himself  They  are  both  as  nothing  in  the  sight  of 
God.  The  fire  of  God's  anger  would  consume  the 
one,  as  easily,  and  as  certainly,  as  the  other.  Noth- 
ing is  gained  for  man,  by  shifting  the  work  of  ex- 
piation from  himself,  upon  any  other  creature.  The 
law  shuts  him  out  therefore,  from  confidence  for 
satisfaction  for  sin,  in  any  being  who  is  like  himself 
limited  in  nature,  however  glorious  and  great.  The 
highest  conceivable  creature  can  no  more  obey  for 
him,  than  he  can  suffer.  Every  created  being  is 
already  in  the  circumstances  of  his  own  nature, 
under  the  law,  and  is  required  to  obey  it  in  all  its 
commands.  All  that  the  law  enjoins,  he  is  bound 
to  fulfil.  He  can  do  nothing  therefore  which  is  not 
already  his  absolute  duty.  He  can  never  have  any- 
thing which  can  be  called  merit  in  the  sight  of  God. 
However  exalted  and  glorious  he  may  be,  his  obedi- 
ence is  all  due  ;  and  when  he  has  rendered  it  all,  he 
is  but  an  unprofitable  servant ;  "  he  hath  done  that 
only  which  it  was  his  duty  to  do,"  and  the  omission 
of  which  would  have  constituted  him  a  transgressor. 
He  can  never  therefore  obey  for  others,  nor  have  a 
righteousness  which  would  not  be  required  to  jus- 
tify himself,  and  which  might  therefore  be  imputed 


LECT.  VII.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  115 

to  them.  The  law  therefore  shuts  out  every  cre- 
ated being,  from  acting  as  a  Saviour  for  lost  man. 
Its  claims  and  demands  convince  him,  that  no  arm 
but  an  Almighty  one,  is  competent  for  the  work 
which  is  to  be  undertaken.  It  teaches  him,  that  he 
can  rest  upon  no  substitute,  who  is  less  than  the 
High  and  Lofty  One  who  inhabiteth  eternity,  whose 
name  is  holy.  If  he  can  become  the  substitute  for 
his  creatures,  if  he  can  come  to  accomplish  this 
wonderful  work,  th-e  dignity  of  his  nature  would 
affix  a  value  to  his  sufferings,  sufficient  to  honour 
the  demands  of  the  law ;  his  mighty  power  would 
enable  him  to  bear  the  penalty  and  triumph  over  it ; 
and  there  would  be  a  value  and  excellence  in  his 
voluntary  obedience  and  suffering,  which  would 
magnify  the  law,  and  be  a  full  satisfaction  to  all  its 
claims.  Whether  such  a  plan  as  this  be  possible, 
the  law  cannot  determine.  But  whether  it  be  pos- 
sible or  not,  it  solemnly  and  absolutely  shuts  out 
every  other  plan,  by  making  demands,  which  no  one 
less  than  God  himself  can  ever  fulfil.  Man  must 
find  such  a  Saviour,  or  he  must  perish  in  guilt  with- 
out him.  If  such  a-door  of  hope  can  be  opened,  the 
law  will  hold  him  in  bondage  no  longer.  If  such 
honour  can  be  rendered  to  its  claims,  it  will  consent 
to  the  full  salvation  of  the  sinner,  and  approve  of  the 
crown  conferred  upon  him  ;  and  the  song  of  Moses, 
and  the  song  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  one  forever. 
The  law  thus  prepares  the  convicted  sinner,  to  lis- 
ten to  the  revelation  of  such  a  Saviour,  to  hear  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  receive  with  grat- 
itude, its  amazing  communications  of  God's  pur- 
poses and  plans  of  grace.  Having  thus  been  taught 
the  actual  wants  of  his  soul,  he  can  rejoice  when  he 


116  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  [lECT.  VII. 

hears  the  faithful  sayings,  that  "  God  was  manifest 
in  the  flesh,"  "  made  in  all  things  like  unto  us,  sin 
only  excepted  ;"  that  "  he  hath  borne  our  sins  in  his 
own  body  on  the  tree,"  and  "  became  obedient  unto 
death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross  ;"  "  hath  been  put 
to  death  in  the  flesh,  the  just  for  the  unjust;"  "  hath 
been  raised  for  our  justification  ;"  hath  become  "  the 
Lord  our  Righteousness  ;"  hath  been  "  made  sin  for 
us,  when  he  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made 
the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  These  blessed 
revelations  are  welcomed  and  received  with  joy,  be- 
cause they  are  just  the  satisfaction,  which  the  law 
has  taught  him  must  be  made,  and  which  it  has  bid 
him  to  seek  for,  if  it  can  be  found.  By  leading  the 
mind  to  look  for  a  Saviour  so  mighty,  and  so  com- 
petent, and  to  be  satisfied  with  no  other,  the  law  be- 
comes a  guide  to  bring  him  unto  Christ,  who  is 
"  God  over  all  blesvsed  forever."  And  when  this 
door  of  grace  is  opened  by  the  Gospel,  and  the  light 
of  heavenly  day  shines  in  upon  his  prison,  he  is  ready 
to  arise  and  follow  the  herald  of  peace  and  security, 
with  gladness  and  haste. 

3.  The  law  shews  the  sinner  the  icay  in  which  he 
must  become  a  partaker  of  the  Saviouj-^s  mercy ^  and 
he  interested  in  his  revealed  redemption.  It  exhibits 
to  him  clearly,  liis  own  real  character  and  condition. 
It  shews  him  that  he  is  sold  under  bondage  to  sin, 
and  in  a  state  of  entire  condemnation  before  God  ; 
that  he  has  nothing  of  his  own  to  offer  for  his  re- 
demption, and  no  ability  of  his  own  to  do  anything 
for  his  own  rescue.  It  holds  up  to  him  plainly,  the 
great  and  indispensable  truth,  that  his  salvation  must 
be  all  of  grace,  the  fruit  of  overflowing  divine  com- 
passion ;  having  no  reference  to  any  worth  in  him  in 


LECT.  VII.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  117 

his  state  of  captivity,  or  to  anything  that  he  can  do 
for  his  deliverer  after  his  release.     It  wholly  strips 
him  of  all  merit  and  worth,  and  sends  him  to  Christ 
without  works,  and  without  confidence  in  anything 
of  his  own.     It  bids  him  go  to  Jesus,  as  one  who  is 
lost  and  perishing,  and  not  as  one  who  is  in  any  de- 
gree deserving  or  serviceable.     It  tells  him  to  look 
to  Christ  in  the  midst  of  his  wants  ;  seeking  instruc- 
tion for  his  ignorance,  pardon  for  his  guilt,  cleansing 
from  his  pollution,  and  free  and  full  redemption  from 
the  slavery  in  which  he  has  been  held.     He  must 
think  of  nothing  in  himself,  but  his  wants  and  mivS- 
eries  ;  and  must  expect  nothing  from  a  Saviour,  but 
as  the  result  of  his  own  grace,  and  as  the  free  gift 
of  God  to  the  condemned  and  perishing.     He  must 
renounce,  and  count  as  worthless,  everything  that  is 
his  own  ;  and  desire  and  seek  to -have  Christ  made 
unto  him  all  in  all,  "  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and 
sanctification,   and  redemption ;"    that   throughout 
eternity,  he  may  praise  him  for  a  deliverance  from 
the  bondage  in  which  he  was  held,  and  glory  in  the 
Lord  alone.     The  law  assures  him,  that  if  he  en- 
tertain the  idea,  of  earning  anything  by  his  own 
obedient^e,  or  of  considering  his  obedience,  as  the 
reason  of  God's  favour  to  him,  he  must  come  back 
under  its  power  again,  and  Christ  will  become  of 
none  effect  unto  him.     He  must  renounce  all  thought 
of  this ;  and  be  content  to  be  saved  by  grace  alone, 
receiving  everything,  out  of  that  fulness  which  is  laid 
up  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     His  salvation  must  be 
w^hoUy  a  gift,  from  beginning  to  end ;  communicated 
in  the  simple  offer  of  it  by  God  the  Saviour ;  and 
received  by  him,  through  a  cordial  faith  in  this  com- 
munication, a  faith  which  rests  everything  upon  the 


118  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  [lECT.  VII. 

certainty  of  the  divine  testimony,  and  the  sufficiency 
of  the  divine  power.  Thus  the  law  guides  the  sin- 
ner to  Christ,  stripping  him  completely  of  all  merit 
and  excellence  of  his  own,  and  urging  him  to  fly, 
naked  and  helpless,  to  him,  who  will  clothe  him 
with  garments  of  salvation,  and  cover  him  with  the 
robe  of  righteousness,  as  a  bridegroom  decketh  him- 
self with  ornaments,  and  a  bride  adorneth  herself 
with  her  jewels. 

4.  Then  the  law  proclaims  to  the  sinner,  its  entire 
satisfaction  ivith  this  provided  Saviour.  It  acknowl- 
edges that  all  its  demands  are  met  and  honoured,  by 
this  glorious  method  of  God's  revelation,  in  which 
God  can  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  who  believ- 
eth  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  confesses  to  the  sinner, 
that  in  the  obedience  and  death  of  the  Son  of  God, 
there  is  a  way  of?  salvation,  entirely  suitable  to  his 
condition  and  wants,  and  entirely  honourable  to  the 
character  of  God ; — suited  to  him,  because  it  pro- 
vides for  a  man  who  is  wholly  ruined,  every  spirit- 
ual blessing,  as  a  free  gift  from  God ;  bringing  him 
a  righteousness  of  obedience  and  suffering  which  is 
perfectly  adequate  to  his  need,  and  covering  all  his 
dangers  and  wants  ;  honourable  to  God,  because  it 
displays  and  magnifies  every  attribute  of  his  char- 
acter, maintains  unsullied  the  integrity  of  his  law, 
exalts  the  dignity  of  his  government,  and  manifests 
the  wonderful  extent  of  his  wisdom  and  truth.  The 
law  thus  entirely  accepts  the  salvation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  acknowledges  itself  perfectly  satisfied  with 
the  provision  which  it  has  made.  In  this  way  it 
becomes  fully  a  guide  to  Christ.  It  urges  the  sin- 
ner to  fly  by  the  open  door  which  is  set  before  him, 
and  to  gain  a  participation  in  that  everlasting  cove- 


LECT.  VII.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  119 

nant  which  is  established  in  this  offered  Saviour, 
because  there  is  no  condemnation  to  them  tiiat  are 
in  Christ  Jesus.  It  exhorts  iiim  to  receive  this  pro- 
vided and  offered  Saviour,  who  hath  done  for  man, 
in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  what  the  law  could 
not  do ;  to  look  to  him  alone  for  every  blessing ;  not 
to  be  discouraged  by  any  convictions  of  his  own  un- 
worthiness ;  but  to  go  to  him,  though  the  chief  of 
sinners,  that  he  may  receive  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  his  grace.  It  is  thus  the  instrument  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  uses  to  prepare  the  sinner,  to  listen  with 
confidence  and  gratitude,  to  him  who  came  to  call 
sinners  to  repentance, — to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost, — to  preach  deliverance  to  the  cap- 
tives, and  to  set  at  liberty,  them  that  were  bound. 
While  he  stands  at  the  door  and  knocks,  the  law 
gives  up  the  sinner  into  his  hands,  to  be  led  by  that 
blessed  invitation,  "  come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ;"  and 
to  enjoy  those  gracious  assurances,  "  though  your 
sins  are  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow, 
— though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as 
w^ool,"  "  whosoever  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no- 
wise cast  out."  Henceforth  the  sinner  thus  deliv- 
ered, is  no  longer  under  the  law,  but  under  grace, 
and  sin  shall  have  no  more  dominion  over  him. 

This  is  the  guiding  power  of  the  law, — and  the 
method  in  which  it  operates.  By  shutting  the  sin- 
ner out  from  every  other '  hope ;  by  exhibiting  the 
qualifications  which  he  must  find  in  a  sufficient 
Saviour  ;  by  shewing  him  how  he  is  to  become  in- 
terested in  that  Saviour's  merit  and  work ;  and  by 
acknowledging  its  entire  satisfaction  with  all  that 
this  Saviour  hath  done  for  man ;  the  law  is  made 


120  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  [lECT.  VII. 

the  schoolmaster  to  bring  him  unto  Christ,  "  that  he 
may  be  justified  by  faith." 

II.  We  will  consider  the  object  for  which  this  guid- 
ing powei^  of  the  law  is  exercised.  ''  The  law  is  our 
schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  we  might 
be  justified  by  faith."  Justification  before  God,  or 
to  ''  be  just  with  God,"  is  the  great  want  of  a  rebel 
under  the  condemnation  of  his  law.  He  must  gain 
this  blessing,  or  he  must  perish.  Justification  for 
the  guilty,  includes  within  it,  a  pardon  for  past  trans- 
gressions, the  effect  of  which  is  but  to  remove  his 
punishment,  but  can  give  no  title  to  reward  ;  and  a 
right,  or  title  to  future  blessedness  and  security, 
which  can  ari.se  only  from  a  perfect  obedience  of  di- 
vine commands.  The  justified  man  has  both  these 
blessings  bestowed  upon  him  freely  by  grace, — re- 
ceiving forgiveness  of  sins,  and  the  imputation  of 
righteousness  without  works. 

If  a  man  would  be  justified  by  works,  he  must  be 
entitled  by  a  right  of  his  own  to  this  forgiveness  and 
reward.  He  must  possess  a  twofold  righteousness, 
to  present  to  God.  He  must  satisfy  the  demands  of 
the  law  by  bearing  its  penalty  ;  and  he  must  honour 
and  obey  it  by  fulfilling  its  precepts.  If  this  can  be 
done  by  man,  he  may  have  whereof  to  glory.  He 
will  be  perfectly  independent  of  every  other  being. 
Heaven  will  be  his  inheritance  by  legal  right.  There 
will  be  no  room  for  the  exercise  of  grace,  because 
man  will  justly  merit  everything  which  he  can  re- 
ceive. God  could  not  justly  deny  to  him,  that  which 
has  become  his  own,  by  the  right  and  merit  of  his 
own  obedience.  This  would  be  a  justification  by 
works,  and  would  give  to  man,  a  just  ground  for 
boasting.     But  the  law,  in  the  exercise  of  its  con- 


LECT.  Vir.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  121 

vincing  and  condemning  power,  shews  this  to  be 
impossible.  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  can  no  flesh 
be  justified,  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin. 
But  still  the  condition  of  man  is  not  changed.  He 
must  be  justified,  or  he  must  perish.  His  need  re- 
mains,— and  while  it  is  unsatisfied,  he  is  under  con- 
demnation. 

If  he  cannot  be  justified  by  works,  is  there  any 
other  method,  in  which  he  can  be  justified  ?  Is 
there  any  way  open,  in  which  he  may  attain  this  de- 
sired end?  The  law  '^brings  him  unto  Christ,  that 
he  may  be  justified  hy  faiths  To  be  justified, — that 
is,  to  be  pardoned,  and  made  righteous, — by  faith, 
does  not  mean,  that  faith  is  received  in  the  stead  of 
obedience,  or  is  regarded  in  itself,  a  righteousness  for 
man.  Faith  can  never  be  the  ground  or  reason  of 
our  justification.  As  an  act  of  man,  it  is  as  imper- 
fect and  worthless,  as  any  other  act.  But  it  is  the 
appointed  instrument  which  conveys  to  us,  and 
makes  our  own,  the  voluntary  and  perfect  obedience 
of  our  great  surety,  a  righteousness  w^hich,  as  we 
have  seen,  answers  and  honours  every  demand  of 
the  law.  This  righteousness  is  imputed  unto  us, 
and  made  ours,  by  the  free  gift  of  God ;  and  thus 
we  are  justified  by  grace.  It  is  received  by  us,  and 
accepted  on  our  part,  by  faith  in  that  testimony  of 
God  which  reveals  it  and  offers  it  to  us, — and  thus 
we  are  justified  by  faith.  We  are  justified  actually, 
in  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  which  is  given  to  us 
freely  by  his  grace,  and  received  by  us  thankfully, 
by  faith  in  his  communications,  and  a  trust  in  his 
power.  This  faith  works  by  love,  and  purifies  the 
heart, — and  is  manifested  in  obedience  to  Gk)d  :  and 
thus  our  participation  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ, 


122  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  [lECT.    VII. 

is  made  evident,  by  the  fruits  in  which  it  results. 
And  in  this  sense  we  are  ultimately  justified  by  the 
testimony  of  our  works,  and  not  our  faith  only. 

But  that  we  may  be  justified  before  God,  the  law 
whicli  can  make  nothing  perfect,  brings  us  to  Christ. 
It  sends  us  to  ask  for,  and  to  receive,  his  perfect  and 
accepted  righteousness,  to  be  counted  unto  us  as 
ours.  It  bids  us  to  obtain  a  full  title  to  acceptance 
with  God,  in  this  perfect  obedience  of  his,  which  he 
offers  unto  us,  and  the  w^orth  of  w^hich  it  acknowl- 
edges and  proclaims.  It  strips  us  of  everything  of 
our  own,  and  directs  us  to  become  ingrafted  into 
Christ,  that  we  may  derive  from  his  fulness,  the 
blessings  which  are  laid  up  in  him  for  us,  by  the 
Father's  grace.  When  w^e  have  accepted  these  gjad 
tidings,  and  received  by  faith  the  offer  of  righteous- 
ness, which  God  has  thus  freely  made  in  his  dear 
Son,  the  law  sets  us  at  liberty.  We  are  no  longer 
in  bondage.  We  are  no  longer  under  the  law,  but 
under  grace.  We  are  now  one  wath  Christ.  His 
righteousness  hath  become  ours,  and  W' e  are  accepted 
in  it.  All  his  power  and  love  are  exercised  for  our 
benefit,  and  in  our  behalf;  and  being  justified  by 
faith,  we  have  peace  with  God,  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  ''  The  laAV  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus,  hath  made  us  free  from  the  law  of  sin 
and  death."  Having  received  this  inestimable  gift, 
we  are  to  stand  fast  in  the  liberty  w^ierewith  Christ 
hath  made  us  free,  and  not  to  be  entangled  again  by 
a  yoke  of  bondage.  "  Being  justified  by  faith,  we 
rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God." 

III.  Now  that  you  have  considered  the  method 
and  object  of  this  guiding  powder  of  the  law, — I 
would  urge  upon  you,  an  acceptance  of  the  instruc- 


LECT.    VII.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  123 

tioii  which  it  offers  to  you.  Other  teachers  may 
speak  in  far  milder  terms, — and  accommodate  tlieir 
instructions  far  more  to  the  dispositions  of  a  carnal 
mind.  They  may  tell  you,  of  the  excellence  of  hu- 
man character,  and  the  value  of  human  works ; — 
of  the  vast  mercy  of  God,  which  will  not  allow  the 
condemnation  of  sinful  man ;—  and  of  the  lessened 
demands  upon  man,  and  the  lowered  standard  of 
obedience,  which  the  Saviour  of  men  has  introduced. 
If  you  listen  to  them,  and  abide  by  their  guidance, 
it  will  be  to  your  ruin.  Dependence  upon  your  own 
character  before  God,  will  be  destruction  to  you  for- 
ever. Whatever  standard  you  may  establish  for 
yourselves, — when  you  try  yourselves  by  it,  you 
will  find  that  your  own  system  of  obedience  shuts 
you  up  under  sin.  Which  of  you  has  acted  fully 
up  to  the  light  which  he  has  enjoyed,  and  has  done 
everything  which  he  believed  to  be  required  of  him, 
in  the  way  in  which  he  believed  it  to  be  required  7 
Which  of  you  would  dare  to  stand  by  this  trial, — 
and  have  his  everlasting  destiny  fixed  according  to 
it, — even  from  the  testimony  of  a  single  day,  or  a 
single  hour  of  his  life  1  Nay,  you  cannot  imagine 
a  standard  of  character,  in  any  degree,  according  to 
your  own  views,  honourable  to  God,  which  would  not 
place  you  under  immediate  condemnation.  What 
can  you  have  therefore  of  your  own  ?  Or  how  can 
your  salvation  be  in  any  degree,  derived  from  your 
own  obedience?  The  utmost  attainments  wiiich 
you  can  ever  make  in  holiness,  are  nothing  before 
God : — nor  is  a  single  act  of  it  free  from  the  defile- 
ment of  sin. 

But  why  do  I  speak  of  holiness  in  this  connec- 
tion 7     Unsanctified  nature  in  man  has  no  holiness. 


124  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  [lECT.  VII. 

All  possible  obedience  to  God  results  from  the  vital 
union  of  your  souls  to  Christ,  in  which  you  are  jus- 
tified before  God.  You  can  have  no  holiness  of  char- 
acter, till  you  have  thus  renounced  yourselves  en- 
tirely, and  fled  for  refuge,  to  the  blessed  hope  w4iich 
is  here  set  before  you.  This  is  the  very  first  work 
of  obedience  demanded  of  you.  Until  this  be  done, 
everything  you  do  is  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  and 
every  aspect  of  your  character  exhibits  rebellion 
against  God.  Until  salvation  has  thus  actually  vis- 
ited your  souls,  you  obey  God  in  nothing.  You  are 
under  the  law  condemned.  But  when  the  day- 
spring  from  on  high  thus  comes  to  you,  you  are  alive 
to  God,  and  accepted  wdth  him  through  his  gracie, 
without  the  least  reference  to  any  fact  concerning 
you,  but  the  simple  one  that  you  are  found  in  Christ, 
clothed  with  the  righteousness  of  God  by  faith. 

The  salvation  of  man  is  thus  wholly  of  grace. 
His  natural  condition  is  entire  ruin.  O,  may  God 
be  graciously  pleased  to  impress  these  truths  upon 
your  minds,  and  enable  you  to  receive  and  cherish 
them  !  Like  the  Israelites  bitten  by  the  fiery  ser- 
pents,— you  are  incapable  of  restoring  yourselves,  to 
health, — or  of  finding  a  healing  balm  throughout  the 
earth.  Death  is  sweeping  you  off  in  swift  succes- 
sion,— and  alas!  whither  is  it  bearing  you?  What 
but  everlasting  death  is  to  be  the  result  of  your 
ruined  condition  7  But  is  there  no  remedy  ?  Let 
Moses  be  your  guide  to  Christ.  As  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  that  the  perishing 
multitude  might  look  upon  it  and  live, — even  so  hath 
the  Son  of  Man  been  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  him,  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlast- 
ing life.     This  day  is  this  transaction  renewed  in 


LECT.   VII.]  THE    LAW    A    GUIDE    TO    CHRIST.  125 

your  midst.  Behold  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  set 
forth  among  you, — crucified  for  your  sins.  There 
is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men, 
whereby  you  can  be  saved.  The  law  which  fur- 
nishes no  life, — would  guide  you  to  Christ,  who 
hath  life  in  himself  abundantly.  Behold  the  eter- 
nal Son  of  God,  lifted  up  upon  the  cross  ; — bearing 
the  burden  of  your  sins  ; — made  a  curse  for  you  ; — 
bruised  for  your  iniquities  ;  presenting  his  soul  an 
ofiering  for  sin  !  Listen  to  his  gracious  invitations. 
''  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of 
the  earth, — for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else." 
"  There  is  no  Saviour  beside  me."  Hear  the  Law 
and  the  Gospel  uniting  in  the  same  testimony  from 
God, — "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  you 
shall  be  saved."  "  All  that  believe  in  him  shall  be 
justified  from  all  things."  "  In  the  Lord  shall  all 
the  seed  of  Israel  be  justified  and  glory."  Obey 
these  invitations  and  testimonies.  Cast  away  all 
righteousness  of  your  own, — and  come  to  him 
whom  God  hath  set  forth  as  a  propitiation  for  sins, 
to  declare  his  righteousness  in  their  remission. 
Come,  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked  and 
cast  yourselves  down  at  his  feet,  to  find  and  receive 
a  free  and  full  salvation.  Fly  from  all  self-depend- 
ence. Renounce  all  false  views  ; — and  come  sim- 
ply in  your  guilt  to  Jesus, — receiving  him  into  your 
hearts  by  faith, — and  in  him  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God.  "  He  is  the  true  God,  and  eternal  life. 
Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols." 


LECTURE   VIII. 


CHRIST,  THE  RIGHTEOUSNESS  OF  THE  LAW. 

Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness,  to  every  one  that  believeth. 

Romans,  x.  4. 

This  text  asserts  a  fact  of  unspeakable  impor- 
tance to  guilty  man.  It  teaches  the  full  scheme  of 
divine  redemption  for  him  as  a  rebel  against  Gk)d, 
and  under  the  condemnation  of  his  law.  It  comes 
to  him  in  this  lost  condition,  with  the  intelligence, 
that  there  is  a  Saviour  provided  for  him  by  the  love 
of  God,  in  whose  power  and  work,  all  his  necessi- 
ties may  find  an  adequate  and  everlasting  supply. 
It  proclaims  that  all  fulness  dwells  in  him  ;  and  that 
the  demands  of  the  law  upon  man  are  answered 
and  removed,  by  the  perfect  and  everlasting  right- 
eousness which  he  has  finished,  and  which  he  offers 
to  the  acceptance  of  all  who  believe  in  him.  The 
Holy  Spirit  employs  the  law  as  his  instrument,  to 
convince  the  sinner  of  his  certain  condemnation  in 
sin,  and  then  to  guide  him  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  only  refuge  and  security  for  his  soul.  He 
there  displays  to  him  the  sufficiency  and  fulness  of 
this  Saviour,  who  has  perfected  an  obedience  which 
meets  all  the  requisitions  of  the  law,  and  which  is 
freely  offered,  and  fully  applied  by  his  power,  to 
every  believing  soul.     Christ  is  himself  the  righte- 


LECT.  VIII.]       CHRIST,    THE    RIGHTEOUSNESS,  ETC.  127 

ousness  of  the  law  for  man.  And  the  man  who  has 
received  him,  is  in  possession  of  a  righteousness, 
which  releases  him  forever  from  condemnation,  and 
entitles  him  to  a  glorious  and  everlasting  reward. 
His  actual  work,  finished  in  the  days  of  his  humil- 
iation, and  now  offered  to  the  Father  in  the  glories 
of  his  exaltation,  is  the  whole  foundation  of  hope 
for  man, — and  the  entire  ground  upon  which  he  may- 
appear  in  peace  before  the  throne  of  God.  This  is 
the  treasure  which  is  offered  in  the  Gospel ;  and  the 
simple  object  for  trust  and  confidence  to  the  Chris- 
tian heart.  This  entire  perfection  of  the  work  of 
Christ,  in  meeting  the  demands  of  the  law,  is  the 
subject  which  is  presented  for  our  consideration  in 
the  text  before  us.  "  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law 
for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth."  May 
the  same  blessed  Spirit  who  applies  this  finished 
provision  of  grace  to  the  sinner's  soul,  enable  us  to 
to  understand  and  embrace  it. 

I.  ''  Christ  is  the  end  of  tJie  law^  The  accom- 
plishment or  perfection  of  the  law  :  the  end  to 
which  its  promulgation  was  directed,  and  the  result 
which  its  operation  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  at- 
tains. To  him,  in  its  communication  to  man,  it  was 
designed  to  lead,  and  in  him  all  its  demands  and 
purposes  have  been  fulfilled.  Through  centuries  of 
its  publication  to  guilty  man,  the  law  was  travelling 
forward  to  reach  his  manifestation  in  the  fulness  of 
the  time.  And  in  him,  it  finds  the  actual  fulfilment 
of  all  its  purposes,  so  that  it  is  satisfied  and  well 
pleased  in  him,  and  gives  place  to  his  gracious  and 
holy  dominion  forever.  Having  in  its  dispensation 
to  a  fallen  world,  brought  the  redeemed  of  Christ  to 
him,  it  had  no  further  work  to  do  ;  its  warfare  was 


128  CHEIST,    THE    RIGHTEOUSNESS  [lECT.    VIII. 

accomplished,  and  its  journey  at  an  end.  Having 
as  the  instrument  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  brought  the 
sinner's  soul  in  faith  to  Christ,  and  witnessed  the 
acceptance  of  him  there,  through  the  grace  of  God, 
it  has  attained  its  perfect  end  with  him  ;  and  re- 
joices in  the  glory  which  it  has  received  from  tiiis 
almighty  conqueror,  while  it  delivers  up  to  him,  the 
subjects  of  his  grace. 

1.  Christ,  is  the  end,  to  which,  the  laic  as  a  dispen- 
sation was  designed  to  lead.  The  full  redemption 
which  divine  wisdom  and  love  had  already  provided, 
and  laid  up  in  him,  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  ap- 
pokited  time,  was  the  point  in  view,  in  all  its  pro- 
mulgations to  mankind.  The  publication  of  the 
precepts  of  holiness  in  the  moral  law  was  to  lead  the 
hope  of  the  guilty  to  him.  It  was  not  designed  to 
open  a  way  of  safety  and  life  to  transgressors  in 
their  own  obedience.  Its  purpose  was  directly  the 
reverse.  It  invited  none.  It  faithfully  and  solemnly 
warned  all,  to  fly  from  its  sentence,  and  from  the  at- 
tempt to  gain  acceptance  by  fulfilling  it.  By  exhib- 
iting the  perfect  spotlessness  which  was  required  in 
acceptable  obedience,  and  displaying  the  impossi- 
bility that  man  should  ever  accomplish  it  by  any 
works  of  his  own,  it  urged  forward  the  desires  of 
men  for  salvation,  to  some  other  source.  The  law 
was  thus  added,  or  proclaimed  anew  to  man  from 
time  to  time,  because  of  transgressions,  to  convince 
him  of  his  guilt ;  and  to  witness  and  minister  from 
generation  to  generation,  to  the  coming  of  that  prom- 
ised seed,  in  whom  the  righteousness  of  God  should 
be  manifested,  and  the  hope  of  man  should  be  found. 
It  thus  constrained  every  believer  in  the  divine 
promise,  to  look  forward  to  him  ;  making  him  the 


LECT.  VIII.]  OF    THE    LAW.  129 

desire  of  all  nations  ;  and  causing  him  to  be  looked 
for  and  welcomed,  by  all  who  were  waiting  for  con- 
solation, and  redemption  from  the  burden  of  guilt. 
He  was  the  treasure  which  it  was  pressing  forward 
to  attain.  He  was  the  haven  of  rest,  in  which  it 
desired  to  land  its  subjects  in  safety  at  the  last ;  and 
its  purpose  and  operation  would  be  incomplete,  till 
he  should  come,  in  whom  it  had  pleased  the  Father, 
that  all  fulness  should  dwell. 

The  rites  and  ceremonies  which  were  appended 
to  this  law  were  also  designed  to  lead  to  Christ. 
Every  sacrifice  offered  with  fire,  from  the  time  of 
Abel,  pointed  to  him,  and  was  but  an  unmeaning 
rite  except  as  the  conscience  of  the  offerer  acknowl- 
edged guilt,  and  his  faith  rested  upon  the  one  great 
sacrifice  divinely  provided  and  divinely  promised. 
The  purifications  and  washings  appointed  for  Israel, 
the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple, 
the  habitual  worship  which  was  celebrated  in  them, 
and  the  multiplied  ordinances  which  were  appended 
to  this  whole  system,  were  designed  to  lead  the 
mind  to  him,  in  whom  all  righteousness  should  be 
fulfilled,  and  complete  redemption  should  be  found. 
These  were  all  shadows  of  good  things  to  come, 
which  were  already  laid  up  in  the  Lamb  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  would  be  revealed 
in  his  manifestation  to  men.  They  made  nothing 
perfect  in  themselves.  They  were  like  guide-posts 
upon  a  journey,  fulfilling  their^  office,  by  directing 
faith  to  him  in  whom  the  traveller  should  find  ac- 
tual redemption,  and  eternal  peace.  As  they  are 
viewed  in  this  connection,  they  are  beautifully  in- 
telligible, and  highly  instructive.  If  they  are  sepa- 
rated from  this   key  of  explanation,  they  are  but 

6* 


130  CHRIST,    THE    RIGHTEOUSNESS  [lECT.    VIII. 

inexplicable  and  arbitrary  appointments,  and  a  yoke 
which  none  were  able  to  bear.  Christ  is  the  end, 
in  which  they  were  all  to  meet  and  to  be  perfected. 

2.  Christ  is  the  end,  in  ichom  all  the  demands  of 
the  laiv  are  actually  accomplished ;  so  that  the  law 
sees  in  him  its  real  and  entire  perfection.  He  has 
fulfilled  all  the  shadows  and  ceremonies  which  were 
appointed  to  lead  to  him.  He  has  finished  the  pur- 
poses which  they  designated,  and  has  set  them  aside 
forever.  That  which  is  perfect  has  come,  and  that 
which  was  in  part  has  been  done  away.  The  pre- 
dictions^and  illustrations  which  the  types  and  figures 
of  the  Old  Testament  gave,  of  the  circumstances, 
character,  and  work  of  the  Redeemer  of  men,  have 
been  fully  realized.  He  is  the  Great  High  Priest, 
the  only  sacrifice,  the  true  paschal  lamb,  who  has 
by  the  offering  of  himself  once  for  all,  perfected  for- 
ever them  that  are  sanctified.  He  has  opened  in 
himself,  the  real  fountain  for  sin  and  for  unclean- 
ness.  And  while  there  was  nothing  in  sacrifices 
or  burnt  offerings  which  God  could  accept,  or  have 
pleasure  therein,  he  has  done  the  will  of  God  in  a 
body  which  was  prepared  for  him ;  and  having  offer- 
ed himself  without  spot  to  God  to  obtain  eternal  re- 
demption for  us,  he  has  fulfilled  the  law  of  ordi- 
nances, and  shines  forth  in  the  fulness  of  grace,  as 
the  perfection  of  all  its  instructions  and  promises. 

He  is  the  actual  completion  of  all  the  demands  of 
the  moral  law.  Both  its  precepts  and  its  penalty 
have  been  fulfilled  and  answered  by  him,  to  the  ut- 
most of  their  claims.  The  law  required  a  spotless 
righteousness,  an  obedience  which  should  be  in  the 
minutest  point  unblamable ;  and  Jesus  was  made 
under  the  law,  for  the  attainment  of  this  object,  and 


LECT.  VIII.]  OF    THE    LAW.  131 

has  rendered  an  actual  obedience  to  every  part  of 
the  law's  demands.  Because  he  was  so  exalted  and 
holy,  and  was  in  himself  under  no  subjection  to  the 
laAv,  his  obedience  was  perfectly  voluntary  and  dis- 
interested, and  has  thus  magnified  the  law^,  and 
made  it  honourable.  In  his  actual  submission  to 
every  precept  of  holiness,  and  his  entire  fulfilment 
of  them  all,  as  the  representative  for  man,  Jesus  has 
become  the  entire  perfection  of  the  law,  and  has  glo- 
rified it  in  the  shining  excellence  of  his  life. 

And  while  he  thus  perfectly  fulfilled  the  law,  so 
that  it  had  no  claim  upon  him  in  the  shape  of  any 
penalty  for  sin,  he  yet  gave  himself  to  be  dealt  with 
and  punished  as  a  criminal.  He  received  the  full 
punishment  for  transgression,  and  died  an  accursed 
death  under  the  condemnation  of  the  violated  law. 
He  did  no  violence,  neither  was  deceit  found  in  his 
mouth,  yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him,  to  put 
him  to  grief,  and  to  cut  him  off,  out  of  the  land  of 
the  living.  But  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions, he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  and  the 
Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.  He 
furnished  the  only  possible  instance,  in  which  the 
same  being  should  conform  perfectly  to  the  precepts 
of  the  law,  and  still  endure  the  curse  and  penalty 
of  their  violation.  The  obedience  which  he  offered, 
was  the  one  perfect  obedience  which  the  law^  re- 
quired. The  sufferings  and  death  which  he  en- 
dured, were  the  one  condemnation  and  curse,  which 
the  law  laid  upon  transgression.  This  actual  penalty 
in  all  its  sorrows,  and  in  the  full  power  of  its  ven- 
geance, he  assumed  and  sustained.  By  his  infinite 
dignity  and  powder,  he  was  able  to  bear  them,  and 
to  triumph  in  his  suffering.     "  See,"  says  Luther, 


132  CHRIST,    THE    RIGHTEOUSNESS  [lECT.  VIII. 

"  by  what  means,  these  two  things,  so  contrary,  and 
so  repugnant,  may  be  reconciled  in  the  one  person 
Christ !  Not  only  my  sins,  and  thine,  but  also  the 
sins  of  this  whole  world,  either  past,  present,  or 
to  come,  take  hold  upon  him,  go  out  to  condemn 
him,  and  do  indeed  condemn  him.  But  because  in 
the  self-same  person  which  is  the  highest,  the  great- 
est, and  the  only  sinner,  there  is  also  an  invincible 
and  everlasting  righteousness  ;  therefore  these  two 
do  encounter  each  other ;  the  highest,  the  greatest, 
and  the  only  sin,  and  the  highest,  the  greatest,  and 
the  only  righteousness.  Here,  one  of  them  must 
needs  be  overcome,  and  give  place  to  the  other. 
Righteousness  is  everlasting,  immortal,  invincible. 
Therefore  in  this  combat,  sin  must  needs  be  van- 
quished and  killed;  and  righteousness  must  over- 
come, and  live,  and  reign.  So  in  Christ,  all  sin  is 
vanquished,  killed,  and  buried  ;  and  righteousness 
remaineth  a  conqueror,  and  reigneth  forever."  "  The 
sins  of  all  the  world,"  says  the  excellent  Bishop 
Hopkins,  ''  assembled  and  met  together  upon  him, 
so  that  there  was  never  so  much  wickedness  repre- 
sented at  once  as  in  his  most  holy  and  sacred  per- 
son. The  sins  of  all  ages,  and  oi*  all  persons,  were 
here  contracted  together.  And  all  those  treasures 
of  wrath  which  were  particularly  due  to  each  of 
these  sins,  were  all  emptied  forth  on  him.  As  in 
his  own  person,  he  sustained  the  guilt  of  all,  so  in 
his  own  person,  he  suffered  the  wrath  and  curse, 
that  was  due  unto  all.  He  suffered  at  o.nce  for 
every  one,  that,  which  else  every  one  must  have 
(suffered  eternally  in  hell." 

This  twofold  demand  which  the  law  made  upon 
man,  Jesus   accomplished  in   man's   behalf.     The 


LECT.    VIII.]  OF    THE    LAW.  133 

hour  in  which  he  became  a  voluntarily  subjected 
being,  he  began  this  unconstrained  humiliation  for 
man.  And  every  moment  of  his  life,  was  a  part  of 
his  one  great  offering,  for  the  transgressions  of  his 
creatures.  His  infinitely  exalted  character  and  rank 
added  a  dignity  and  worth  to  his  obedience  and  suf- 
ferings, which  made  them  of  more  value,  and  more 
honourable,  than  would  have  been  the  personal  sub- 
mission of  the  whole  human  race.  The  law  can 
make  no  demands  upon  man,  which  this  Almighty 
Redeemer  has  not  fully  answered.  He  has  provided 
a  perfect  righteousness,  which  is  its  perfection  and 
end.  All  that  it  sought,  it  has  found  in  him.  It 
therefore  yields  the  government  of  believing  men  to 
be  upon  his  shoulder,  who  hath  ransomed  them 
from  a  curse,  by  being  made  a  curse  for  them.  Its 
dominion  is  finished.  Its  dispensation  has  passed 
away.  And  Christ  has  become  its  end,  for  right- 
eousness, to  every  one  that  believeth. 

II.  This  leads  to  our  second  point,  the  purpose 
for  which  Christ  thus  became  the  completion  of  the 
law.  "  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteous- 
ness.^^  This  was  the  only  possible  purpose  of  such 
a  subjection.  The  single  term  righteousness  com- 
prises the  whole  circle  of  the  law's  demands ;  and 
the  whole  compass  of  a  sinner's  wants.  The  law 
could  ask  for  nothing  but  a  righteousness  which 
should  be  a  full  satisfaction  of  its  penalties,  and  a 
perfect  conformity  to  its  precepts.  When  this  per- 
fect submission,  conformity,  and  endurance  was 
found,  the  law  was  satisfied,  and  could  make  no 
farther  demands.  It  asked  from  man  a  spotless 
obedience.  It  was  satisfied  and  honoured  when  the 
covenant  representative  of  man  rendered  the  obedi- 


134  CHRIST,    THE    RIGHTEOUSNESS  [lECT.   VIII. 

ence  which  it  thus  required.  The  sinner  under  the 
solemn  condemnation  of  the  law,  wanted  nothing 
but  a  righteousness  which  could  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  power  that  held  him  in  bondage. 
And  though  the  law  required  this  to  be  found  in 
himself  alone,  yet  the  bringing  in  of  the  better  hope 
which  is  offered  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  allowed 
him  to  find  this  righteousness  in  a  surety  in  his  be- 
half But  the  necessity  for  such  a  righteousness  for 
him  could  never  be  set  aside.  Whoever  should  be- 
come his  surety,  must  become  in  every  point  of  sub- 
mission to  the  law,  his  substitute  also.  And  in  the 
attainment  of  this  righteousness  in  the  person  of 
another,  competent  to  render  it,  his  release  and 
liberty  were  made  secure  to  him  forever.  The  vio- 
lation of  the  law  made  an  atonement  and  expiation 
necessary,  to  honour  its  justice  and  truth  if  sin  should 
be  pardoned.  Whenever  the  Saviour  came,  who 
was  to  be  the  sinner's  substitute,  he  must  furnish 
this  atonement,  without  which  there  could  be  no  re- 
mission, in  order  to  bring  in  a  righteousness  for  man. 
The  relation  in  which  the  transgressor  stood  to  the 
law,  made  a  priest  and  sacrifice  indispensable  to  the 
righteousness  which  he  must  have.  And  w^hen  that 
priest  and  sacrifice  appeared,  there  was  an  entire 
imputation  of  the  sinner's  guilt  and  responsibility  to 
him.  He  assumed  the  burden.  He  finished  the 
purpose  for  which  it  w^as  assumed.  In  this  en- 
durance of  the  sinner's  penalty,  he  made  a  satisfac- 
tion to  the  law,  and  thus  far  brought  in  a  righteous- 
ness for  man ;  a  righteousness  which  sinful  man 
might  successfully  plead,  for  the  pardon  of  his  guilt, 
and  the  deliverance  of  his  soul  from  bondage  and 
punishment. 


LECT.  VIII.]  OF    THE    LAW.  135 

But  the  Saviour  came  not,  merely  to  release  man 
from  the  bondage  of  condemnation  and  punishment ; 
he  was  also  to  bestow  upon  him,  an  inheritance  of 
life  eternal.  This  was  to  be  a  free  gift  to  man, 
through  the  abounding  of  divine  grace.  But  it 
must  rest  upon  the  perfect  obedience  which  the  law 
required,  for  life  could  be  obtained  in  no  other  way. 
The  precepts  of  the  law  must  be  fulfilled  for  man, 
as  well  as  the  penalties.  To  accomplish  this  right- 
eousness, Jesus  was  made  under  the  law  ;  and  every- 
thing which  he  did  and  suffered  as  man,  contributed 
to  make  up  and  finish  this  work  of  obedience  which 
the  case  of  man  required.  His  labours,  instructions, 
and  miracles ;  his  pains  of  body,  and  agony  and 
darkness  of  mind  ;  his  acts  of  obedience,  and  his 
experience  of  deprivations  and  sorrows  ;  were  all 
united  to  perfect  him  in  this  assumed  responsibility ; 
to  constitute  him  who  was  Jehovah,  the  righteoUvS- 
ness  of  man ;  and  to  render  him  able  to  save  unto 
the  uttermost,  all  who  should  come  unto  God  through 
him.  In  his  W'Ork  of  voluntary  mediation,  there  is 
a  completed  righteousness,  a  treasure  of  merit,  in- 
finitely honourable  to  God,  and  altogether  sufficient 
for  man.  We  stand  complete,  when  w^e  stand  in 
him.  While  the  Father  beheld  with  joy,  the  glori- 
ous undertaking,  in  which  he  was  engaged,  saying; 
"  this  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased," 
the  holy  law,  under  which  he  was  subjected,  re- 
ceives his  spotless  Vork  of  merit,  and  proclaims, 
"  in  this  righteousness  I  am  magnified  and  made 
honourable." 

This  satisfaction  of  our  Blessed  Redeemer  to  the 
law,  is  perfect  and  entire.  It  answered  every  claim 
which  was  made  upon  man  for  obedience  and  suf- 


136  CHRIST,    THE    RIGHTEOUSNESS  [lECT.  VIII. 

fering.  The  result  was  therefore  a  perfect  right- 
eousness, a  finished  conformity  to  the  law.  But  it 
was  not  for  himself  The  law  had  no  claims  upon 
him.  His  obedience  and  sufferings  were  entirely 
voluntary.  He  fulfilled  them,  from  no  necessity  of 
obligation,  but  in  a  free  covenant  of  love  for  man. 
He  lived  and  laboured,  not  in  vain,  fighting  as  one 
that  beateth  the  air.  It  was  for  a  seed  that  he  was 
to  see,  and  in  whom  he  was  to  be  satisfied  for  the 
travail  of  his  soul,  while  they  were  to  be  justified 
by  the  knowledge  of  him.  He  thus  became  the 
perfection  of  the  law,  and  in  possession  of  a  right- 
eousness which  fulfilled  it,  in  behalf  of  those,  whom 
the  Father  had  given  to  him,  whose  nature  he  as- 
sumed, and  whose  responsibility  he  covenanted  to 
bear. 

HI.  This  introduces  our  third  point  of  remark, — 
the  persons  for  whom  all  this  teas  done.  "  Christ  is 
the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness,  to  every  one 
that  believeth."  Faith, — faith  in  him,  in  his  prom- 
ises, and  work,  and  power, — is  the  instrument,  and 
the  single  instrument,  by  which  sinful  men  are  made 
partakers,  of  the  righteousness  which  he  thus  pos- 
sesses. 

The  condition  of  fallen  man,  is  universal  guilt  and 
condemnation.  Every  individual  of  this  family  is 
born  under  the  curse  of  a  violated  law,  and  in  a 
state  of  rebellion  against  God.  For  the  world  in 
this  condition,  the  Son  of  Go3  has  died.  He  has 
provided  for  a  race  universally  guilty,  a  remedy  uni- 
versally applicable.  He  has  rendered  the  salvation 
of  man  consistent  with  the  character  and  govern- 
ment of  God.  He  has  become  a  propitiation  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.     He  has  thus  a  righteous- 


LECT.  VIII.]  F    THE    LAW.  137 

ness  in  his  possession,  sufficient  for  all,  and  oifered 
to  all,  as  the  gift  of  grace  to  them.  The  satisfaction 
of  the  law  which  was  indispensable  to  render  the 
salvation  of  a  single  sinner  consistent  with  the  char- 
acter of  God,  was  equally  adequate  for  all  to  whom 
it  should  be  applied.  Every  barrier  which  the 
truth  and  justice  of  God  had  interposed,  was  thus 
removed ;  and  the  way  was  perfectly  opened  for  the 
salvation,  of  all  who  should  be  persuaded  to  come 
thus  unto  God.  But  the  actual  result  and  limit  of 
this  divine  provision  is  stated  in  our  text ;  "  Christ 
is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one 
that  believeth."  He  becomes  the  personal  right- 
eousness only  of  those,  who  receive  him  and  rest 
upon  him  in  faith.  ''  To  as  many  as  receive  him, 
to  them  gives  he  the  privilege  to  become  the  sons  of 
God."  His  offering  has  been  set  forth,  as  a  pro- 
pitiation, to  declare  the  righteousness  of  God,  that 
God  might  still  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  wiio 
believeth  in  Jesus.  The  way  of  safety  is  now  per- 
fectly laid  open ;  and  man  is  required  to  believe  the 
record  which  God  hath  given  concerning  his  Son. 
There  is  no  difficulty  in  the  sinner's  path,  if  he  will 
be  persuaded  to  "  know  and  believe  the  love  which 
God  hath  to  him  ;"  if  he  will  thankfully  receive  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  as  infallibly  true,  and  trust  him- 
self to  its  fulfilment  with  undoubting  certainty. 
''  Christ  has  become  the  end  of  the  law  for  right- 
eousness." Does  sinful  man  believe  this  fact? 
Does  he  cease  therefore,  to  look  for  acceptance  be- 
fore God,  to  any  works  of  his  own, — and  simply 
hope,  in  the  righteousness  which  has  been  thus 
finished  for  him  by  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord  ?  Does 
he  in  this  faith,  devote  himself  in  newness  of  life  to 


iSiS  CHRIST,    THE     R1GHTEOUSNE33  [lECT.  VIII. 

this  glorious  Lord  ?  Then  Christ  is  the  end  of  the 
law  for  righteousness  to  him.  The  righteousness 
which  Christ  lias,  is  his.  Every  obstacle  to  his  sal- 
vation has  been  removed.  He  is  accepted,  crowned 
with  full  redemption,  and  saved  with  an  everlasting 
salvation,  in  that  covenant  Lord,  to  whom  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  thus  brought  him,  and  united  him  in  con- 
fidence and  love.  When  he  thus  believes  the  testi- 
mony of  God,  and  receives  the  record  which  God 
hath  given  of  his  Son,  he  is  made  one  with  Christ ; 
and  all  the  merit  of  the  work  of  Christ  is  counted 
to  him  as  his  own.  As  Christ  was  clothed  with  his 
guilt,  so  is  he  completely  clothed  with  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ.  For  him,  there  is  an  end  of  the 
law,  a  perfection  of  its  demands,  and  a  conclusion 
of  its  dominion,  in  Christ,  in  whom  he  believes,  and 
with  whom  he  stands  by  faith.  This  faith  meets 
the  requisitions  of  the  law,  by  referring  them  all  to 
Christ,  in  whom  they  have  been  fulfilled  and  com- 
pleted, and  pleading  this  fulfilment  by  him,  as  its 
own.  And  this  plea  is  acknowledged,  as  wholly 
sufficient ;  Christ  is  accepted  as  the  end  of  the  law, 
and  an  everlasting  righteousness  for  the  believer, — 
and  he  being  justified  by  faith,  has  peace  with  God. 
If  man  will  not  receive  this  offered  grace,  nor  be- 
lieve these  blessed  facts  which  God  has  thus  an- 
nounced, the  simple  consequence  is,  Christ  is  no 
righteousness  for  him,  and  there  is  no  end  of  the 
law  in  his  behalf  He  remains  under  its  dominion 
and  its  curse.  He  renounces  an  offered  redemption, 
and  sinks  again  in  bondage.  He  refuses  the  merit 
which  grace  provides,  and  comes  before  God  upon 
the  ground  of  his  own  merit  and  strength.  He  has 
loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  and  this  is  his  con- 


LECT.  VIII.]  OF    THE    LAW.  139 

demnation.  He  lives  and  dies  und^  a  curse.  He 
is  condemned  already,  and  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him.  He  is  without  the  possibility  of  hope  ;  cast 
into  a  prison,  from  which  he  can  in  nowise  come 
out  until  he  has  paid  the  uttermost  farthing.  All 
this  is  the  simple  result  of  his  refusal  of  that  right- 
eousness which  is  offered  to  all  who  believe,  and  of 
his  rejection  of  that  redemption  which  is  provided 
by  the  grace  of  God,  and  urged  upon  the  acceptance 
of  sinful  man. 

IV.  In  concluding  this  important  subject,  we  may 
remark : 

How  glorious  and  consistent  is  that  scheme  of 
salvation  which  is  presented  in  the  Gospel !  It  of- 
fers simply,  Jesus  Christ, — an  Almighty  Saviour, 
— all  and  in  all  in  himself  It  takes  us  just  where 
it  finds  us,  in  a  state  of  entire  guilt  and  ruin  ;  con- 
demned by  the  Holy  law  of  God  to  eternal  perdi- 
tion ;  and  utterly  incapable  of  procuring  any  justifi- 
cation by  our  own  obedience.  In  this  condition,  it 
announces  to  us,  a  Saviour  divinely  great  and  glo- 
rious, who  has  assumed  our  nature, — to  become  a 
perfect  substitute  for  us,  and  the  atonement  for  our 
sins  ; — and  who  offers  us  in  himself,  everlasting  rec- 
onciliation with  God.  God's  acceptance  of  this 
amazing  propitiation  is  solemnly  proclaimed.  The 
method  in  which  we  are  to  become  interested  in  it, 
by  a  simple  faith  in  Christ,  and  confidence  of  our- 
selves to  him,  it  discloses  with  precision  and  clear- 
ness. The  simple  demand  which  it  makes  is  for 
thankful,  humble  faith  in  Christ.  The  promise 
which  it  gives,  is  that  then,  he  shall  be  our  right- 
eousness and  we  shall  be  complete  in  him.  The 
simple  direction  which  it  gives  us,  having  thus  be- 


140  CHRIST,    THE    RIGHTEOUSNESS,    ETC.    [lECT.    VIII. 

lieved, — is,  to •  make  confession  with  our  mouth,  of 
the  Lord  whom  we  have  received,  and  to  walk  by 
the  guidance  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  in  all  his  command- 
ments and  ordinances  blameless.  What  perfect 
consistency,  unity,  and  efficiency,  is  there  in  such  a 
system  !  How  highly  glorious  it  is  to  the  blessed 
God  !  How  unspeakably  precious  to  guilty  man  ! 
How  important  is  that  simple  living  faith,  w^hich 
it  requires,  and  to  which  all  its  promises  are 
made  !  And  while  superstition  and  self- righteous- 
ness and  unbelief  would  reject  this  all-sufficient 
Lord,  or  mingle  up  with  him  the  merit  of  works 
and  the  assumed,  undue  powder  of  ordinances, — how 
vastly  does  the  obligation  increase  upon  us,  to  state 
this  divine  system  of  grace  and  truth,  plainly,  openly, 
and  uniformly  ;  and  to  urge  upon  all  men,  a  free 
and  thankful  acceptance,  of  wiiat  God  has  so  freely 
and  fully  provided  !  How  awful  is  their  condition, 
who  cast  away  this  hope,  and  thus  despise  the  di- 
vine character,  and  affront  the  majesty  of  God ! 
For  them,  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sin, 
but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for,  of  judgment  and 
fiery  indignation.  He  that  hath  the  Son  of  God, 
hath  life;  but  he  that  hath  not  the  Son,  hath  not 
life, — cannot  see  life, — but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him.  This  blessed  hope  in  Christ  is  set  before 
you, — make  it  the  anchor  of  your  souls  sure  and 
steadfast ;  and  you  shall  find  an  abundant  entrance 
into  the  rest,  whither  your  great  Redeemer  hath 
gone  before  you. 


LECTURE  IX. 

THE  LAW,  THE  CHRISTIAN'S  RULE  OP  LIFE. 

Being  not  without  law  to  God, — but  under  the  law  to  Christ, — 1  Corin- 
thians, IX,  21. 

In  this  expression,  St.  Paul  describes  the  exact 
condition  of  a. true  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
He  introduces  it  as  a  parenthesis,  in  the  midst  of  a 
discourse  upon  the  freedom  which  he  claimed  in  his 
ministry  of  the  Gospel.  He  declares  his  cheerful 
conformity  to  the  various  habits  and  prejudices  of 
those  to  whom  he  ministered,  that  he  might  be  made 
the  instrument  of  winning  them  to  Christ ;  so  that 
though  he  was  wholly  free  from  the  authority  of 
men,  yet  he  willingly  submitted  himself  to  their  cus- 
toms and  desires,  that  he  might  gain  the  more.  But 
he  would  not  have  this  varying  compliance  with  the 
feelings  of  others  in  things  indifferent,  construed  into 
a  neglect  on  his  part  of  the  unvarying  authority  and 
law  of  God,  as  if  he  were  without  any  abiding  rule 
in  this  relation. 

He  felt  himself  entirely  free  from  all  those  ap- 
pointments and  precepts  which  had  been  given  to 
his  nation,  that  had  been  fulfilled  and  ended  in 
Christ.  But  to  permanent  precepts  of  holiness, 
which  God  had  proclaimed  in  connection  with  these, 
he  could  not  be  indifferent.  They  were  written  in 
his  heart  with  a  divine  power.     They  governed  his 


142  THE    LAW,  '  [lECT.  IX, 

conduct  with  an  unceasing  constraint.  His  joyful 
acceptance  of  the  hopes  and  promises  of  the  Gospel 
had  confirmed  and  increased  the  power  of  these 
precepts  over  his  heart.  He  was  "  not  without  law 
to  God,"  because  he  was  "  under  the  law  to  Christ." 
The  Saviour  whom  he  served,  and  in  whom  he  had 
his  whole  relation  to  God,  had  renewed  for  him  the 
same  perfect  standard  of  obedience,  and  had  added 
new  and  more  powerful  motives  to  lead  him  to  love 
and  regard  it.  He  thus  describes  the  condition  of 
every  believer ;  entire  and  everlasting  freedom  from 
the  law  as  a  dispensation  of  condemnation  and 
death, — but  everlasting  and  delightful  subjection  to 
the  law,  as  a  rule  of  conformity  to  Christ,  leading  to 
entire  love  to  God,  and  universal  love  to  men  for  his 
sake.  The  great  salvation  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  though 
it  is  founded  upon  a  perfect  satisfaction  of  the  law 
in  all  its  penalties  and  precepts,  as  a  righteousness 
for  man, — adopts  all  the  holy  commandments  of  the 
law  as  the  rule  of  life  and  conduct,  for  those  who 
have  accepted  this  righteousness,  and  been  made 
partakers  of  this  salvation. 

This  is  the  condition  of  every  justified  man.  He 
has  been  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  the  law. 
He  is  made  free  from  its  denunciations.  It  has  no 
penalties  to  demand  of  him,  and  no  judgments  to  in- 
flict upon  him.  It  has  no  longer  dominion  over  him. 
He  is  not  under  the  law.  He  is  in  possession  of  a 
divine  righteousness  through  the  gift  of  grace,  wiiich 
meets  all  its  claims  and  sets  him  free  from  its  power 
forever.  But  he  is  not  without  law  in  his  relation 
to  God.  He  has  been  placed  under  a  new  dispen- 
sation, which  furnishes  new  obligations  to  a  holy 
obedience  to  God,    presents   new  motives  to  this 


LECT.    IX.]  THE    CHRISTIAN'S    RULE    OF    LIFE.  143" 

obedience,  and  gives  him  new  power  to  put  them 
into  actual  effect.  He  is  under  the  law^  to  Christ, 
who  has  bought  him  with  a  price,  and  perpetuated 
and  confirmed  upon  him,  every  divine  command- 
ment. The  motives  to  obedience  are  changed,  the 
influence  and  effects  of  this  obedience  are  also 
changed,  but  the  rule  of  holiness  remains  the  same, 
and  in  the  same  conformity  to  it  he  glorifies  God  in 
his  body  and  his  spirit  which  are  his. 

The  man  w^ho  has  truly  embraced  the  Gospel  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  has  cast  out  all  dependence  upon 
his  own  obedience ;  and  rests  his  whole  hope  of 
justification  before  God,  upon  tlie  perfect  righteous- 
ness of  his  divinely  appointed  Saviour.  He  does  not 
expect  to  earn  a  single  hour  of  peace  or  glory  by  his 
own  holiness  of  character.  The  obedience  in  w^hich 
he  trusts,  and  in  which  he  envelopes  himself  by 
faith,  was  long  since  finished.  He  cannot  add  an 
iota  of  merit  to  that  great  offering,  which  has  been 
once  for  all  made  for  his  soul,  and  which  has  per- 
fected his  title  and  his  hope  forever.  The  inheri- 
tance has  been  given  him  by  promise,  through  grace ; 
and  he  labours  and  strives  and  obeys,  from  love  and 
gratitude  to  him  who  hath  bestowed  it,  and  that  he 
may  become  prepared  and  capable  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  that  glory,  for  which  he  is  apprehended  of 
Christ  Jesus.  But  as  his  rule  of  character,  as  the 
governing  standard  of  his  life,  the  law^  hath  dominion 
over  him  as  long  as  he  liveth.  By  its  precepts  he 
is  led  to  bring  forth  fruits  of  holiness  unto  God. 
And  perfectly  righteous  as  he  is,  in  the  imputed 
righteousness  of  his  Lord,  he  labours  to  become  in- 
creasingly holy  in  the  spirit  and  character  of  his 


144  THE    LAW,  [lECT.  IX. 

mind,  that  he  may  honour  him  who  hath  chosen 
him  to  be  his  servant. 

To  this  view  of  the  divine  law,  I  desire  now  to 
call  your  attention.  It  is  the  perfect  rule  of  Ife  to 
every  believer  in  the  LordJesus ;  governing  him,  as 
the  declaration  of  his  Saviour's  will ;  and  made  by 
the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  standard  of  his 
choice,  and  the  path  in  which  he  delights  to  walk. 
In  the  work  of  justification,  our  own  obedience  forms 
no  part.  Our  righteousness,  and  the  righteousness 
of  Christ  our  Lord,  are  opposites  here.  We  have 
renounced  the  one  that  we  may  gain  the  other. 
We  are  taught  to  "  count  all  things  loss,  that  we  may 
Avin  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not  having  our 
own  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that 
which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  by  faith."  We  are  accepted  in  his 
obedience  alone.  We  are  thus  accepted,  when  with 
our  hearts  we  believe  in  him.  But  being  accepted, 
and  having  "  obtained  access  through  him,  into  this 
grace  wherein  we  stand,  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God,"  the  precepts  of  God's  holy  law  be- 
come the  rule  of  our  life ; — we  are  made  ready  and 
able  to  say,  "  O,  how  I  love  thy  law ;  it  is  my  medi- 
tation all  the  day." 

1.  The  divine  law  is  the  believer'^s  rule  of  life.  It 
is  the  perfect  and  unalterable  standard,  to  which 
his  character  is  to  become  conformed.  In  itself  it 
is  perfectly  excellent  and  lioly.  It  is  a  description 
and  transcript  of  the  character  and  perfections  of 
the  Creator  himself  A  conformity  to  its  precepts 
is  an  attainment  of  the  pure  and  holy  image  of  God. 
Righteousness  is  an  entire  fulfilment  of  these  pre- 
cepts.    Holiness  is  a  conformity  to  the  image  of 


LECT.  IX.]  THE    CHRISTIANAS    RULE    OF    LIFE.  145 

Grod  in  which  they  are  thus  imbodied.  And  though 
man  can  never  have  this  perfect  righteousness  in 
himself,  the  believer  increasingly  attains  this  holi- 
ness, this  conformity  to  the  perfect  image  after  which 
he  is  renewed  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  one  prin- 
ciple which  fulfils  this  law,  and  marks  this  divine 
image,  is  love.  "Love  is  of  God,  and  every  one 
that  loveth,  is  born  of  God,  and  knoweth  God ;  he 
that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for  God  is  love." 
The  more  we  gain  this  love  to  God, — and  this  love 
to  others,  for  his  sake, — the  more  are  we  conformed 
to  his  image,  and  the  more  fully  do  we  honour  and 
obey  him.  "  Hereby  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
are  my  disciples,"  saith  the  Lord  Jesus,  "  that  ye 
love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you."  This  holy 
requirement  of  love,  entire  and  unlimited  love,  was 
laid  upon  man  by  his  Creator,  as  it  was  laid  upon 
every  other  intelligent  creature  that  he  formed.  No 
change  in  man's  circumstances  or  condition,  could 
ever  alter  the  holy  and  perfect  standard  which  God 
had  thus  set  up  before  him.  Whatever  station  we 
might  occupy  in  the  scale  of  intelligent  being,  it 
must  be  everywhere  equally  our  duty,  to  maintain 
and  cultivate  and  exercise  this  disposition  of  uni- 
versal love.  The  obligation  to  this  could  not  be  set 
aside,  without  autiiorizing  that  destruction  of  the 
image  of  God  which  sin  accomplishes,  and  robbing 
God  of  the  glory  which  is  his  due.  When  we  have 
been  delivered  from  the  condemnation  of  sin,  and 
are  partakers  of  the  mercies  of  God  in  the  Gospel, 
and  a  new  heart  "  under  the  law  to  Christ"  has  been 
given  to  us,  the  constraint  of  this  obligation  to  uni- 
versal love,  is  immeasurably  increased,  by  the  vast 
privileges  which  redemption  has  bestowed,  and  the 

7 


146  THE    LAW,  [lECT.  IX. 

exalted  motives  which  it  has  furnished.  No  being 
in  the  universe  has  received  such  benefits  from  God, 
as  a  sinner  who  has  been  ransomed  by  the  blood  of 
his  dear  Son.  No  being  therefore,  is  under  such 
obligations  to  love  God  with  all  his  powers,  and 
with  an  unceasing,  everlasting  love.  This  love, 
God  requires  of  us,  according  to  the  blessings  we 
have  received,  and  the  Gospel  which  brings  his 
greatest  blessing,  his  unspeakable  gift  to  man,  places 
this  standard  before  us  with  new  authority.  Ac- 
cording to  its  principles,  we  are  to  serve  God  in 
newness  of  spirit.  In  conformity  to  its  pattern  we 
are  to  be  renewed  from  day  to  day.  By  this  in- 
creasing conformity,  we  become  more  and  more  like 
God  and  prepared  for  his  kingdom.  And  though 
we  are  forgiven  and  accepted  in  Christ  our  Lord 
alone,  the  holy  law  is  still  our  rule ;  and  the  free- 
ness  of  pardon,  and  the  fulness  of  our  salvation, 
make  us  to  love  it,  and  to  strive  to  follow  it  yet 
more  earnestly.  The  standard  is  unchanged ;  but 
we  have  received  that  love  for  its  holiness,  which 
casts  out  all  fear  of  its  judgments,  and  urges  and 
enables  us,  to  render  the  very  obedience  which  be- 
fore we  had  neither  the  wish,  nor  the  ability  to 
present. 

II.  Our  conformity  to  this  law,  was  one  great  ob- 
ject of  our  redemption  by  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  all  that 
he  did  and  suffered  for  his  people,  he  purposed  their 
restoration  to  holiness.  He  did  not  labour,  merely 
to  rescue  them  from  death  as  a  punishment ;  but  to 
deliver  them  also  from  the  bondage,  and  power  of 
sin  which  had  deserved  it.  For  this,  he  was  called 
Jesus,  "because  he  should  save  his  people  from 
their  sins."     For  this,  "  God  raised  up  a  mighty  sal- 


LECT.  IX.]  THE    christian's    RULE    OP    LIFE.  147 

vation,  that  we  being  delivered  from  the  fear  of  our 
enemies,  might  serve  him  vi^ithout  fear,  in  holiness 
and  righteousness  before  him,  all  the  days  of  our 
life."  To  have  delivered  a  rebellious  family,  merely 
from  the  ruin  which  they  deserved,  would  have  been 
a  partial  object ; — the  great  design  was  to  bring  back 
these  rebels,  to  a  state  of  obedience  and  love ;  to 
take  away  the  spirit  of  hostility  which  had  governed 
them ;  to  restore  them  to  the  one  great  family  of 
God ;  to  renew  the  peace  and  harmony  of  a  disor- 
dered universe ;  to  stop  the  breach  which  the  waters 
of  contention  had  made ;  and  to  bring  into  one,  all 
conflicting  feelings  and  purposes,  in  Jesus  Christ  the 
Lord.  This  was  the  great  purpose,  for  which  the 
Redeemer  "  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  re- 
deem us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a 
peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works."  He  has 
restored  redeemed  man  to  a  voluntary  submission 
to  that  holy  government  of  God,  which  is  the  source 
of  universal  peace.  He  has  himself  received  this 
government,  as  the  ruler  of  redeemed  men;  and 
"  died,  and  risen,  and  revived,  that  he  might  be  Lord, 
both  of  the  dead,  and  of  the  living."  He  cannot 
rule  in  mercy  over  a  world  that  rejects  him,  and 
still  lies  under  the  wicked  one.  Over  them,  he  must 
rule  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  dash  them  in  pieces  like 
a  potter's  vessel.  But  he  has  purchased  for  himself 
an  universal  Church,  an  assembly  of  elected,  par- 
doned sinners  ;  that  he  might  govern  them  in  holi- 
ness, and  present  them  unto  God,  holy  and  without 
spot  or  blemish.  This  sanctifying  of  sinful  men,  is 
one  great  end  of  his  redeeming,  gathering  and  reign- 
ing over  them  ; — and  as  he  sees  this  work  advance, 
and  sinful  men  coming  more  and  more  under  his 


148  THE    LAW,  [lECT.    IX. 

control,  under  the  law  to  him, — he  sees  of  the  trav- 
ail of  his  soul,  and  is  satisfied.  He  rejoices  over 
every  ransomed  sinner,  whom  he  brings  in  triumph 
to  the  glories  of  a  heavenly  home,  renewed  after  the 
perfect  image  of  God.  He  presents  each  one  to  the 
Father,  as  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  design  in 
making  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  and  consenting 
to  be  numbered  with  transgressors.  And  as  he  sees 
the  spotless  character  of  holiness,  impressed  upon 
glorified  saints, — and  increasingly  manifest  in  every 
child  of  God  on  earth, — he  delights  in  the  attain- 
ment of  this  great  end  of  his  manifestation  in  the 
flesh, — and  of  his  humiliation  in  death.  For  this, 
he  has  plucked  rebels,  as  brands  from  the  fire,  and 
brought  them  home  from  condemnation,  that  they 
might  gain  an  everlasting  conformity  to  the  image 
of  God,  in  an  obedience  to  the  commands  of  his  per- 
fect law. 

in.  Our  obedience  to  the  law  in  its  precepts,  ts 
the  pwyosefor  which  we  are  personally  delivered  from 
its  condemnation.  The  Son  of  God  hath  purchased 
us  by  the  offering  of  himself  for  us.  He  hath  freely 
bestowed  upon  us  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel,  so  that 
we  are  no  longer  in  bondage  under  condemnation, 
but  are  in  freedom  under  grace.  But  we  have  not 
been  made  free  by  grace,  that  we  may  continue  in 
sin,  but  that  we  may  walk  before  him  in  newness 
of  life.  God  hath  sent  his  own  Son  for  us,  in  the  like- 
ness of  sinful  flesh,  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law 
might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit.  While  we  remain  under  the 
power,  and  in  the  bondage  of  the  law,  we  can  never 
obey  its  holy  commandments.  It  can  oflfer  us  no  as- 
sistance or  strength.     It  cannot  make  us  acceptable 


LECT.  IX.]  THE    CHRISTIANAS    RULE    OF    LIFE.  149 

or  holy  in  the  sight  of  God,  It  acts  as  an  hard  task- 
master, requiring  us  to  make  brick,  and  furnishing 
us  with  no  straw.  It  censures  our  disobedience ;  it 
condemns  our  defects.  But  it  cannot  repair  the  one, 
or  relieve  the  other.  But  when  we  have  embraced 
the  liberty  and  life  which  the  Gospel  gives,  all  the 
help  we  need  is  freely  bestowed.  We  are  then  en- 
abled to  offer  that  obedience,  sincere  and  spiritual 
however  partial  and  defective  still,  which  we  could 
not  before  present  to  God.  The  purpose  for  which 
we  have  been  thus  set  at  liberty  from  condemnation, 
is  that  we  may  thus  obey  the  divine  commands. 
There  is  a  race  to  be  run,  and  a  contest  to  be  main- 
tained ; — but  it  is  in  vain  to  command  the  culprit 
who  is  in  his  dungeon,  bound  hand  and  foot  with 
chains,  either  to  run  or  fight.  When  his  fetters  are 
loosed,  and  his  prison  doors  are  opened,  he  may  be 
successfully  urged  to  arise  and  strive.  Equally  un- 
able are  we  to  honour  God  in  obedience,  while  we 
are  held  under  condemnation.  But  Christ  hath 
broken  up  this  bondage  wherein  we  were  held,  and 
hath  borne  the  condemnation  for  us.  We  are  there- 
fore at  liberty  ;  and  the  object  of  this  liberty  is  our 
new  obedience,  that  we  may  be  under  the  law  to 
Christ,  and  live  unto  him  who  hath  loved  us  and 
given  himself  for  us.  The  value  and  importance  of 
the  law  as  a  rule  of  life  are  thus  magnified  and  dis- 
played. It  is  the  measure  and  standard,  by  which 
having  been  made  free  from  the  curse,  we  are  to 
bring  forth  fruit  unto  God. 

IV.  This  obedience  to  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life,  is 
one  of  the  chief  blessings  promised  in  the  Gospel,  It 
was  to  be  one  blessed  result  of  publishing  salvation 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  God  would  put  a  new 


150  THE    LAW,  [lECT.  IX. 

heart  into  those  who  received  this  offer  of  grace,  and 
renew  a  right  spirit  within  them  ;  that  he  would 
write  his  laws  upon  their  hearts,  and  in  their  minds ; 
and  cause  them  to  walk  in  his  statutes,  and  to  keep 
his  judgments  to  do  them ;  that  he  would  cleanse 
them  from  all  their  uncleanness  and  sins,  and  put 
his  Spirit  to  dwell  within  them.  These  promises 
convey  an  assurance  of  the  sanctifi cation  of  the 
people  of  God  under  the  Gospel,  according  to  that 
standard  of  holiness,  of  which  the  law  is  the  meas- 
ure and  rule.  When  we  truly  accept  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ,  which  are  offered  us  in  the 
Gospel,  we  are  thus  formed  anew  in  a  life  of  holy 
obedience ;  and  these  gracious  promises  are  fulfilled. 
The  power  of  sin  is  broken  in  every  converted 
heart ; — and  the  influence  of  sin,  and  the  disposition 
to  yield  to  it,  are  conquered,  in  proportion  as  we  are 
sanctified  by  God's  Holy  Spirit,  and  renewed  after 
his  image.  We  are  thus  engaged  in  a  new  obedi- 
ence of  the  divine  commands.  This  personal  holi- 
ness of  character  is  a  covenanted  privilege  of  the 
Gospel.  It  is  not  made  a  condition  of  his  accep- 
tance of  us,  but  a  result  and  effect  of  it.  Our  obe- 
dience to  his  law  is  thus  infallibly  secured,  by  God 
himself  undertaking  to  work  it  in  us,  and  for  us,  by 
the  power  of  his  own  Spirit. 

He  wills  that  I  shall  holy  be. 

What  can  resist  his  will  ? 
The  counsel  of  his  grace  in  me. 

He  surely  will  fulfil. 

It  is  his  determined  purpose  to  present  his  Church 
at  last,  without  spot,  or  blemish,  or  any  such  thing. 
The  solemn  covenant  which  the  blessed  Saviour 


LECT.    IX.]  THE    CHRISTIAN'S    RULE    OF    LIFE.  151 

makes,  with  every  sinner  in  whose  heart  he  dwells 
as  the  hope  of  glory,  is,  that  sin  shall  not  have  do- 
minion over  him,  for  he  is  not  under  the  la:w,  but 
under  grace.  When  he  was  under  the  law,  sin  had 
dominion  over  him ; — but  when  he  has  fled  for  ref- 
uge to  the  blessed  hope  which  is  offered  to  him  in 
the  Gospel,  this  dominion  is  destroyed.  His  new 
obedience  is  promised  to  him,  by  God  himself,  and 
he  shall  be  holy  because  God  is  holy.  Certainly  no 
higher  honour  could  be  put  upon  the  law,  as  the 
Christian's  rule  of  life, — than  this  constituting  obe- 
dience to  its  precepts,  one  of  the  chief  blessings 
promised  in  the  Gospel ;  than  this  assurance,  that 
in  the  full  redemption  which  should  be  effected  for 
sinful  men  by  the  Son  of  God,  they  should  be  made 
holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love,  by 
divine  power,  according  to  their  desire,  and  after  the 
precepts  of  his  law.  In  this  deliverance  of  our  souls 
from  bondage,  which  he  has  promised  and  effected, 
so  far  are  we  from  being  allowed  to  sin  because 
grace  abounds,  or  set  loose  from  the  law  to  follow 
the  motions  of  unholiness  in  our  own  corrupt  nature 
because  our  salvation  is  free,  that  the  very  obedi- 
ence which  the  law  demanded  in  vain,  the  Gospel 
fully  secures  and  promises.  It  thus  perpetuates 
the  law  as  a  rule  of  life,  for  those  who  receive  its  of- 
fered mercies;  and  magnifies  and  exalts  its  holy 
character  and  righteous  authority,  by  enabling  man 
to  meet  it  fully,  and  to  answer  its  demands. 

V.  This  obedience  to  the  law,  as  a  rule  of  life, 
our  Lord  has  made  a  characteristic  of  his  disciples. 
"  By  this,"  says  he,  "  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
love  me,  if  ye  keep  my  commandments."  "  Ye  are 
my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you." 


]5d  THE    LAW,  [lECT.    IX. 

"By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  Personal 
holiness  of  character,  or  real,  spiritual  obedience  to 
the  commands  of  God,  is  the  mark  of  true  disciple- 
ship  to  Christ.  No  professions  of  regard  or  devotion 
can  testify  the  sincerity  of  love.  No  sufferings  in 
the  flesh,  though  they  amount  to  martyrdom  for  his 
sake,  can  form  an  accurate  indication  of  the  state  of 
our  hearts  before  him,  if  a  cordial  love  for  him,  and 
a  vigilant  pursuit  after  holiness  in  obedience  to  him, 
be  wanting.  The  only  adequate  evidence,  that  we 
have  been  freed  from  the  condemnation  of  the  law, 
and  have  been  made  partakers  of  real  and  lasting 
liberty  in  the  Gospel,  is  to  be  found  in  our  holy 
obedience  to  God,  our  supreme  love  for  him,  and 
our  universal  love  to  men,  actuating  us  in  all  the  re- 
lations and  duties  of  life.  Every  man  who  has  truly 
embraced  the  Gospel,  will  be  a  truly  holy  man; 
nor  can  any  man  be  a  true  believer,  who  is  not  so. 
The  grace  of  God  which  bringeth  salvation  has 
visited  the  believer's  heart  for  this  very  purpose, 
that  he  might  be  taught  and  enabled,  to  deny  un- 
godliness and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly, 
righteously  and  godly  in  the  world.  If  a  man  is 
still  voluntarily  a  sinful  man,  walking  in  the  lusts 
of  the  flesh, — fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  and 
of  the  mind, — it  is  vain  for  him  to  profess,  or  to  con- 
fide in,  a  supposed  deliverance  from  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  law,  or  an  interest  in  the  dominion  and 
righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Conformity 
to  Christ  is  the  only  proof  of  the  dwelling,  or  of  the 
operations,  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  in  the  heart. 
Everything  is  uncertain  as  an  evidence  of  grace,  but 
the  love  which  fulfils  the  law.  They  that  are 
Christ's,  have  crucified  the  flesh,  with  the  affections 


LECT.    rX.]  THE    CHRISTIANAS    RULE    OF    LIFE.  153 

and  lusts.  Against  such  there  is  no  law.  Being 
bought  with  a  price, — redeemed  by  the  precious 
blood  of  Christ,  a  lamb  without  blemish,  and  with- 
out spot,  they  are  delivered  from  the  law  in  all  its 
penalties,  and  are  thus  enabled,  in  a  new  and  holy 
obedience  to  God,  to  be  under  the  law  to  Christ. 
From  them,  this  new  obedience  is  required,  as  the 
evidence  of  their  character,  and  of  the  truth  of  their 
profession,  and  the  law  as  the  rule  of  their  life  is 
adopted  and  confirmed. 

VI.  Our  blessed  Lord  has  displayed  the  impor- 
tance of  the  divine  law  as  a  rule  of  life  for  his  dis- 
ciples, in  the  explanation  and  summary  ichich  he  has 
given  of  its  precepts.  He  came,  not  to  destroy  the 
authority  and  constraint  of  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  its 
requisitions,  and  to  magnify  and  honour  its  holiness, 
and  to  confirm  the  obligation  of  its  precepts.  He 
declares  the  existence  and  operation  of  this  rule  of 
life  to  be  more  permanent  than  the  heavens  and  the 
earth.  He  illustrated  the  perfectness  and  spiritual- 
ity of  its  character  and  commands.  He  shewed  that 
their  influence  extended  even  to  the  desires  and 
thoughts  of  the  heart.  He  renounced  entirely,  the 
limitations  which  men  were  disposed  to  affix  to  these 
precepts,  in  the  mere  outward  and  apparent  conduct 
of  the  life.  He  taught  that  no  character  was  de- 
sirable, or  to  be  approved  in  man,  but  that  which  is 
conformed  in  sincerity  and  holiness  to  the  will  of 
God  who  searches  the  hearts ;  and  that  no  apparent 
character  can  be  of  any  avail,  while  the  spirit  and 
life  of  true  obedience  within  are  wanting.  Thus 
the  Saviour  extended  and  explained  the  precepts  of 
the  law,  adopting  it  not  in  the  letter  only  but  in  the 

spirit,  as  the  rule  by  which  his  disciples  were  to  be 

7* 


154  THE    LAW,  [lECT.  IX. 

governed,  as  the  established  standard  of  personal 
character  in  the  church  which  he  was  to  gather  upon 
the  earth.  When  he  was  asked  to  decide  the  con- 
troversy among  the  Jews,  which  was  the  chief  of  the 
divine  commandments,  he  selected  the  two  precepts 
which  required  universal  love, — precepts  which  must 
govern  as  long  as  there  are  intelligent  beings  to  love 
or  to  be  loved ;  as  the  precepts  which  furnish  a  com- 
pendium of  the  whole  law,  and  a  key  to  its  adequate 
and  proper  interpretation.  He  thus  displayed  and 
exalted  it,  as  a  rule  of  life  for  his  people,  and  en- 
forced and  illustrated  it  as  the  standard  of  govern- 
ment, for  all  who  should  embrace  his  Gospel,  and 
profess  to  follow  him.  The  Saviour  requires  per- 
fect spiritual  holiness,  in  all  who  profess  his  name, 
to  be  attained  by  the  transforming  power  of  his  own 
divine  Spirit.  And  though  they  may  come  far  short 
of  this  in  fact,  yet  their  efforts  are  to  be  still  directed 
to  this  attainment ;  they  are  to  acknowledge  and 
feel  their  unworthiness  and  guilt  in  every  failure  in 
it ;  and  to  throw  themselves  humbly  upon  him  for 
pardon  ^nd  acceptance,  because  they  can  have  no 
merit  of  their  own.  But  though  our  highest  efforts 
and  best  attainments  are  feeble  and  worthless,  and 
we  are  in  no  degree  to  look  to  our  own  obedience  as 
a  foundation  for  hope,  we  can  never  be  allowed  to 
set  before  ourselves,  a  lower  standard  and  purpose, 
than  perfect  holiness  of  character,  in  a  perfect  obedi- 
ence of  the  law,  as  our  rule  of  life.  We  are  always 
to  seek  to  have  every  thought  of  our  hearts  brought 
into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ ;  and  to  ex- 
ercise unceasing  vigilance  and  labour,  that  we  may 
be  presented  before  God,  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus, 
not  only  in  the  full  justification  of  our  persons  in  his 


LECT.    IX.]  THE    CHRISTIAN'S    RULE    OF    LIFE.  l55 

righteousness,  but  in  the  perfect  conformity  of  our 
lives  to  his  example.  For  this  end,  we  are  under 
the  law  to  Christ,  and  by  its  standard  we  are  creat- 
ed anew,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in 
works  of  holiness,  which  God  hath  before  ordained 
that  we  should  walk  in  them. 

VII.  These  views  display  the  importance  and  in- 
fluence of  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life.  It  is  set  up 
as  an  eternally  unalterable  standard.  We  are  re- 
deemed by  the  Son  of  God,  and  have  been  delivered 
from  its  condemnation,  that  we  may  walk  according 
to  its  precepts  in  newness  of  life.  Our  conformity 
to  it,  is  promised  us  in  the  Scriptures,  as  one  of  the 
blessings  and  privileges  of  the  new  covenant,  and  is 
made  the  characteristic  of  our  union  with  Christ ; 
and  for  this  end  the  Saviour  has  illustrated  and  ex- 
plained the  commands  which  it  imposes.  This  as- 
spect  of  the  divine  law  is  most  important.  And 
though  we  are  set  free  from  its  condemnation  for- 
ever, by  the  perfect  obedience,  and  the  atoning  death 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  are  still  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  its  precepts,  as  administered  and  enforced 
by  Christ  our  Lord  forever ;  and  not  one  jot  or  tittle 
of  it  can  be  allowed  to  pass  till  all  be  fulfilled. 

Let  me  urge  you  not  to  lower  these  demands 
of  the  law  in  any  aspect  of  its  operation,  in  your 
views  of  its  claims.  As  a  covenant  and  dispensa- 
tion it  cannot  recede  from  one  of  its  just  and  right- 
eous demands.  They  have  been  perfectly  fulfilled 
in  the  work  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As  a  rule 
for  personal  character  in  man,  its  requisitions  are  of 
equal  force  and  permanence.  It  enjoins  upon  us,  to 
attain  a  love  for  God  with  all  our  heart  and  strength, 
and  to  love  all  others  as  ourselves.     Do  not  propose 


156  THE    LAW,  [lECT.  IX. 

to  yourselves  any  lower  standard  than  this,  to  govern 
you  in  your  daily  walk  in  life.  Be  not  satisfied  with 
the  standard  and  judgment  of  the  world  around  you. 
Be  not  contented  with  the  performance  of  a  mere 
round  of  outward  duties,  or  a  few  kind  and  benefi- 
cent acts.  We  are  to  die  altogether  unto  sin,  and 
to  live  unto  righteousness,  with  our  whole  heart  and 
spirit.  We  are  to  make  it  our  object,  to  have  the 
whole  body  of  sin  within  us  subdued  and  mortified ; 
to  delight  ourselves  in  the  law  of  God  in  the  spirit 
of  our  minds, — and  to  perfect  holiness  in  his  fear. 
While  the  precepts  of  the  law  are  our  rule, — the  life 
of  Christ  who  hath  fulfilled  them  is  our  example. 
We  are  to  walk  as  he  walked ;  to  purify  ourselves 
as  he  was  pure;  to  be  as  he  was  in  the  world. 
Nothing  must  satisfy  our  desires  and  determinations, 
short  of  absolute  perfection  of  character;  longing 
and  labouring  ever,  to  be  holy  as  God  is  holy,  and 
perfect  as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect. 

O,  let  us  then  be  willing  servants,  and  cheerful 
subjects  of  these  divine  precepts  and  this  perfect 
government !  Consider  the  obedience  which  God 
requires  of  you  perfect  freedom,  and  run  the  way 
of  his  commandments  with  enlarged  and  thankful 
hearts.  When  this  spirit  is  in  the  heart,  there  is 
liberty  and  comfort,  and  the  commandments  of  God 
are  not  grievous.  Let  me  beseech  you  then,  to  give 
yourselves  up  unreservedly  unto  God.  While  we 
profess  the  system  of  truth  which  has  been  here  laid 
down,  they  who  do  not  enter  into,  or  adopt  our 
views,  will  judge  of  them,  and  of  us,  by  the  manifest 
holiness  of  our  own  characters  and  lives.  They 
must  see  in  us,  what  the  real  tendency  of  the  truth 
of  Scripture  is.     The  honour  of  God  and  of  his 


LECT.  IX.]  THE    CHRISTIANAS    RULE    OF    LIFE.  157 

Gospel  depends  much  upon  the  character  of  pro- 
fessing Christians.  And  I  desire  that  you  who  pro- 
fess yourselves  to  belong  to  Christ,  may  be  wanting 
in  nothing.  Strive  to  walk  worthy  of  your  high  vo- 
cation in  every  duty.  By  abounding  in  every  virtue 
and  every  praise,  make  it  evident,  that  you  have  no 
wish  to  sin  because  grace  abounds,  but  are  cheerfully 
and  wholly  under  the  law  to  Christ.  In  this  way 
are  we  to  put  to  silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men, 
to  prove  ourselves  indeed  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and 
to  be  made  effectual  instruments  of  doing  good  to 
others.  Let  us  press  forward  unceasingly  to  attain 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  perfect  men  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  thus  labour  to  honour  him  who  has 
bought  us  for  his  glory,  in  our  bodies  and  spirits 
which  are  his. 


^^^ 


LECTURE   X. 

THE  WORTH  OF  MAN'S  OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  LAW. 

Blessed  are  they  who  do  his  commandments,  that  they  may  have  a  right  to 
the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the  city. — Revela- 
tions, XXII.  14. 

The  salvation  which  the  Gospel  offers  to  man  is 
entirely  free.  It  is  a  fundamental  principle  in  it, 
that  it  is  not  of  works  lest  any  man  should  boast. 
God  hath  saved  us,  not  by  works  of  righteousness 
which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy. 
Yet  the  assurance  is  uttered  with  equal  solemnity 
and  precision,  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord.  It  becomes  therefore  a  most  important  topic 
for  us  to  consider,  what  is  the  worth  of  man's  obe- 
dience? What  effect  has  it  upon  his  salv^ation? 
Under  what  aspect  is  this  obedience  required  of 
him  ?  Salvation  from  sin, — offering  everlasting  life, 
and  happiness  in  that  life,— is  the  great  promise  of 
the  Gospel,  and  the  object  to  which  the  Gospel  leads 
our  desires  and  exertions.  To  attain  this  blessing, 
it  urges  us  to  forget  the  things  which  are  behind ; 
to  count  all  other  things  as  loss ;  to  look  not  at  the 
things  which  are  seen,  and  are  temporal.  But 
while  it  offers  this  salvation  freely  through  the  grace 
of  God,  it  opens  but  one  path  to  its  attainment,  one 
highway,  which  is  called  the  way  of  holiness.  This 
is  presented  to  us  in  our  text.     They  who  do  the 


LECT.  X.]  WORTH    OF    MAN*S    OBEDIENCE,    ETC.  159 

commandments  of  God  have  a  right  to  the  tree  of 
life,  and  may  enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the 
city. 

The  everlasting  portion  of  the  people  of  God, 
which  we  are  thus  to  seek,  is  presented  to  us  here, 
as  a  dwelling  in  a  city,  offering  the  idea  of  security 
to  the  redeemed  soul, — and  as  partaking  of  the  tree 
of  life,  presenting  the  image  of  perfect  satisfaction 
and  enjoyment.  They  who  are  walking  in  the  way 
which  leads  to  this  security  and  enjoyment,  and  are 
preparing  on  the  earth,  to  become  partakers  of  this 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,  are  those  who  are 
doing  the  commandments  of  God,  to  whom  his  holy 
law  is  a  rule  of  life,  and  who  are  reuQwed  in  holiness 
according  to  its  precepts,  after  the  image  and  ex- 
ample of  Christ.  While  this  text  sets  before  us,  the 
two  points,  of  the  end  of  glory  whicli  is  to  be  at- 
tained, and  the  way  of  holiness  through  which  it  is 
to  be  attained, — it  presents  as  the  general  subject 
of  this  discourse,  the  icorth  and  influence  of  man^s 
personal  obedience  to  the  divine  laio. 

I.  The  great  end  and  result  to  which  the  Chris- 
tian's life  on  earth  is  to  lead,  is  the  everlasting  secu- 
rity and  happiness  of  heaven^ — an  abode  in  tlie  city 
of  God, — and  an  eternal  nourishment  from  the  tree 
of  life. 

1.  Tlie  blessedness  of  the  saints  is  a  glorious  and 
everlasting  abode ;  a  dwelling  place  for  the  whole  as- 
sembly and  Church  of  the  first  born,  whose  names 
are  written  in  heaven.  The  Lord  Jesus  calls  it  his 
"  Father's  house."  One  Apostle  describes  it  as  a 
"  city  which  hath  foundations," — "  a  continuing  city," 
— "  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God  ;" — "  the  Jeru- 
salem which  is  above ;"   and  another  calls  it,  "  the 


160  WORTH    OF   MANS    OBEDIENCE  [leCT.    X. 

new  Jerusalem  which  descendeth  from  God  out  of 
heaven."  The  latter  writer  dwells  at  length  on  the 
circumstances  and  appearance  of  this  heavenly  city ; 
— he  describes  its  walls  and  gates  and  inhabitants, 
in  expressions  which  are  adapted  to  fill  the  Chris- 
tian mind  with  the  most  elevated  and  glorious  con- 
ceptions ;  all  combining  the  two  themes  of  amazing 
splendour,  and  immaculate  purity.  The  main  idea 
suggested  by  this  figurative  description  of  the  por- 
tion of  the  saints,  is  perfect  and  everlasting  security. 
Within  walls  and  bulwarks  of  salvation,  the  re- 
deemed soul  is  defended  forever ;  and  by  an  entrance 
through  the  gates  w4iich  are  opened  to  him,  he  re- 
ceives a  just  and  regular  admittance  to  this  defence. 
He  has  now  as  the  gift  of  grace,  a  kingdom  which 
cannot  be  removed.  He  was  once  wandering  abroad, 
as  a  guilty  and  condemned  rebel.  He  fled  from  the 
avenger  of  blood,  under  a  consciousness  that  he  de- 
served to  die.  The  violated  law  uttered  forth  its 
denunciations  against  him,  and  the  offended  justice 
of  the  Lawgiver  demanded  the  punishment  of  his 
sin.  The  plain  in  which  he  was  pursued,  furnished 
him  no  shelter.  His  own  strength  supplied  him  no 
means  of  defence.  Wearied,  desponding  and  con- 
demned, he  was  ready  to  perish  in  his  guilt,  when 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel  directed  him  to  a  city 
of  refuge, — and  urged  him  to  run  thither  and  be 
safe.  Through  the  door  which  was  opened  in  the 
offered  obedience  and  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  whose 
invitations  he  accepted,  and  to  whom  he  came  for 
life,  he  sought  and  gained  a  blessed  and  eternal 
abode  in  this  dwelling  place  of  peace.  Here  there 
was  no  more  condemnation  for  him  ;  but  pardoned, 
justified,  and  at  peace  with  God,  he  found  hope  as 


LECT.'   X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  161 

an  anchor  to  his  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast.  The 
law  condemned  him,  but  the  Gospel  met  its  con- 
demnation, and  opened  to  him  a  city  of  defence. 
But  again,  he  was  a  pilgrim  follower  of  Jesus, 
amidst  the  circumstances  of  earth,  though  a  par- 
taker of  the  security  of  heaven.  He  was  contend- 
ing with  manifold  difficulties  and  trials,  encompassed 
with  enemies,  laden  with  sorrows,  pressing  forward 
often  through  deep  waters ;  but  keeping  his  hope 
steadfast  unto  the  end,  and  becoming  purified  by  his 
trials,  he  has  found  at  last  an  everlasting  abode,  in 
the  city  of  his  God,  secured  from  every  enemy,  and 
delivered  from  all  anguish  forever.  This  is  the  se- 
curity in  which  his  soul  is  now  kept.  He  can  go  no 
more  out.  He  abides  in  strength  and  peace  forever. 
He  has,  under  the  vast  and  secure  provisions  of  the 
Gospel,  an  unshaken  defence ;  and  has  entered  into 
a  dwelling  place  of  everlasting  righteousness  and 
peace. 

2.  But  his  salvation  is  more  than  security,  it  is 
tJm  enjoyment  of  everlasting  bliss.  It  is,  to  have  a 
right  to,  or  power  over  the  tree  of  life ;  to  partake 
of  its  fruits,  and  to  be  nourished  by  it  forever.  The 
tree  of  life,  bearing  twelve  manner  of  fruits,  and 
yielding  her  fruit  every  month,  which  was  growing 
upon  the  bank  of  the  river  of  the  water  of  life,  as 
seen  in  the  vision  of  St.  John,  and  which  is  espe- 
cially an  emblem  of  the  Saviour  himself,  must  be 
received  generally,  as  also  the  emblem  of  everlasting 
and  abundant  enjoyment.  It  exhibits  the  provisions 
with  which  the  Lamb  who  dwells  in  the  midst  of 
the  throne,  feeds  his  saints  forever.  The  salvation 
which  they  have  received,  is  in  this  relation,  ex- 
hibited as  a  power  over  the  tree  of  life,  a  proper  and 


162  WORTH    OF    man's    OBEDIENCE  [lECT.    X. 

certain  title  to  everlasting  joy.  Such  honour  have 
all  his  saints.  What  a  contrast  is  their  condition, 
to  that  of  a  sinner  under  condemnation,  with  no 
prospect  but  death,  with  no  source  of  comfort  or 
peace  in  himself,  and  perishing  in  his  want  and 
wretchedness,  without  the  power  of  self-restoration  ! 
In  their  condition,  under  the  vast  provisions  of  grace 
which  are  offered  in  the  Gospel,  there  is  a  supply 
for  every  want.  They  are  at  unity  with  God. 
Their  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  through  the 
Son,  by  the  Spirit.  They  have  peace  passing  un- 
derstanding. They  have  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory.  They  are  crowned  with  life  eternal,  and 
can  never  perish.  Are  they  amidst  the  vain  and 
fading  gratifications  of  the  earth  ?  They  are  fed 
with  God's  hidden  manna,  the  bread  which  cometh 
down  from  heaven.  Are  they  beyond  the  reach  of 
earth  7  They  dwell  under  the  same  tree  of  life,  and 
feed  upon  its  fruit  forever.  All  the  power  and  love 
of  God,  are  united  and  exerted,  to  increase  and  per- 
petuate their  bliss.  And  in  the  presence  of  (i)d, 
they  are  possessors  of  joys,  which  it  hath  not  en- 
tered into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive. 

To  this  end  and  result  of  the  Christian's  course, 
in  perfect  and  unutterable  glory,  the  present  text 
directs  our  notice.  It  pronounces  the  blessedness 
of  those  who  have  attained  it ;  and  of  those  who  are 
in  the  path  which  leads  to  it.  This  path,  it  declares 
to  be  the  icay  of  holy  obedience  to  the  commandments 
of  God. 

II.  "  Blessed  are  they  who  do  his  commandments, 
for  they  have  a  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may 
enter  in  through  the  gates,  into  the  city."  The 
commandments  of  God  are  especially  the  two  chief 


LECT.    X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  163 

precepts,  of  supreme  love  to  God,  and  universal 
benevolence  to  men,  which  are  declared  to  be  the 
fundamental  principles  upon  which  the  whole  law 
is  suspended,  and  an  obedience  to  which,  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law.  By  an  obedience  to  these  pre- 
cepts, man  becomes  prepared  for  the  security  and 
bliss  of  heaven,  and  evidences  his  right,  to  partake 
of  the  privileges  which  are  there  so  freely  and  boun- 
tifully secured  to  him.  To  the  unconverted  man, 
the  law  is  made,  in  its  convincing  and  guiding  power, 
a  schoolmaster  to  lead  him  unto  Christ,  that  he  may 
be  justified  by  faith.  To  the  converted  and  renewed 
man,  already  justified  and  made  secure  through 
grace,  the  law  in  its  governing  power  as  his  rule  of 
life,  is  made  the  instrument  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
sanctify  and  renew  him  day  by  day,  after  a  pattern 
of  perfect  holiness,  and  to  render  him  meet  to  be- 
come a  partaker  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light.  Perfect  obedience  to  its  commands  in  uni- 
versal holiness  of  character,  founded  upon  a  spirit 
of  sincere  and  fervent  love  to  God,  is  at  once  re- 
quired of  him,  and  conferred  upon  him,  under  the 
Gospel.  In  this  way,  he  aims  to  walk,  in  the  love 
of  God,  and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus 
he  proves  his  partnership  with  Christ,  and  the 
sufiiciency  of  the  hope  which  sustains  him  in  his 
service.  The  text  makes  a  right  to  life  eternal,  to 
be  in  some  sense  dependent  upon  man's  obedience 
of  the  divine  commandments.  And  it  authorizes 
and  requires  us  to  say,  that  they  only  who  do  the 
commandments  of  God,  have  a  right  to  the  promises 
which  he  has  made.  This  constitutes  the  impor- 
tance and  worth  of  man's  own  obedience  to  the  law 
of  God,  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel.    This 


164  WORTH    OF    man's    OBEDIENCE  [lECT.    X. 

is  the  point,  we  have  now  to  consider.  And  it  is  a 
point  of  vast  importance,  a  clear  intelligence  of 
which  is  indispensable. 

1.  The  obedience  to  the  divine  commandments, 
to  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life,  which  the  Gospel  re- 
quires of  man,  is  a  perfect  obedience.  It  offers  sal- 
vation and  life  eternal  to  man,  in  no  other  way  than 
the  way  of  perfect  obedience  to  the  commandments 
of  God.  It  exhorts  us  to  become  perfect,  and  it  de- 
sires to  present  us  to  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  perfect  in 
holiness.  If  the  Gospel  requires  perfect  obedience 
of  man,  in  order  to  his  salvation,  it  may  be  asked, 
what  advantage  does  it  give  over  the  law,  which  re- 
quired no  more  7  To  answer  this,  the  distinction 
must  be  considered,  between  the  ideas  of  perfection 
in  these  two  dispensations,  which  is  very  manifest, 
and  easily  explained. 

The  law  demanded  for  man's  justification,  an 
obedience  perfect  in  degree ; — not  deficient  in  a  sin- 
gle particular, — not  defective  in  any  point.  This  is 
the  obedience  which  holy  angels  render  to  the  com- 
mands of  God.  But  the  original  corruption  of  fallen 
beings  vitiated  such  an  obedience,  at  the  very  outset. 
The  attempt  in  man  to  work  out  such  an  obedience, 
would  be  like  building  an  house  upon  the  quicksand, 
into  the  fathomless  depths  of  which,  every  stone 
would  sink,  as  soon  as  it  was  laid.  This  rendered 
it  impossible,  that  man  should  be  justified  by  his 
own  works  under  the  law, — because  though  he 
should  obey  every  commandment, — his  obedience 
was  still  defective  in  every  act.  But  this  was  the 
obedience  which  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  great  surety  for 
sinful  men,  rendered  for  them,  by  which  he  entirely 
fulfilled  the  demands  of  the  law,  and  brought  in  a 


LECT.    X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  165 

perfect  righteousness  for  man's  justification  before 
God. 

Jesus  has  released  us  from  the  condemnation  and 
bondage  of  the  law,  but  he  demands  of  us  a  perfect 
obedience  under  the  Gospel  also.  I  say,  he  demands 
it, — for  being  justified  from  the  law  by  him,  we  are 
no  longer  under  its  dominion,  but  under  grace, — 
"  under  the  law  to  Christ," — or  under  Christ's  law. 
The  law  has  no  demands  upon  us,— but  he  has. 
But  the  perfect  obedience  which  he  requires,  is  a 
perfection  of  motive  and  principle^ — and  not  a  perfec- 
tion of  degree.  It  is  an  unity  of  purpose,  which 
has  respect  unto  all  the  commandments,  and  aims  to 
glorify  Jesus  in  all,  by  full  and  uniform  obedience, 
— though  there  is  a  necessary  weakness  and  infirm- 
ity, marking  the  obedience  of  every  command, — and 
making  every  act  of  obedience  actually  defective  in 
its  character  before  God.  This  perfection  is  a  sin- 
cere and  cordial  devotion  of  the  powers  and  affec- 
tions of  the  whole  man,  to  an  unceasing  obedience 
of  every  commandment  of  God,  who  hath  redeemed 
him  from  bondage,  that  he  should  be  holy  and  with- 
out blame  before  him  in  love.  The  obedience 
which  is  thus  offered  and  accepted  under  the  Gros- 
pel,  is  perfect, — it  is  like  a  vase  of  porcelain  which 
is  whole,  without  a  crack,  and  therefore  is  called  a 
perfect  vase,  though  'small  in  size,  and  inconsider- 
able in  value  and  workmanship.  While  the  obe- 
dience which  is  required  in  the  law,  is  like  a  vessel 
in  itself  of  the  highest  possible  worth,  and  therefore 
perfect,  because  no  power  could  improve  its  beauty, 
or  enhance  its  value.  Legal  perfection  is  thus  a  per- 
fection of  degree.  It  cannot  be  increased,  because 
it  is  already  a  perfect  conformity  to  every  precept, 


166  WORTH    OF    man's    OBEDIENCE  [leCT.  X. 

— and  there  is  no  deficiency.  Evangelical  perfection, 
is  a  perfection  of  particulars,  a  wholeness  and  unity 
of  motive  and  system,  in  which,  like  the  body  of  an 
infant  child,  there  is  every  member  and  part,  though 
all  are  diminutive  and  weak.  It  regards  all  pre- 
cepts ;  it  allows  a  transgression  of  none  ;  but  in  its 
obedience,  it  is  growing  more  excellent  and  strong 
from  day  to  day. 

Such  an  obedience  to  divine  commandments  the 
Gospel  requires  of  every  believer ;  having  regard  to 
every  precept,  and  aiming  and  striving  constantly 
for  supreme  perfection  of  degree  in  each.  It  is  an 
obedience  which  does  not  willingly  omit  a  single 
command, — or  pass  over  a  single  duty.  It  is  gov- 
erned by  the  single  purpose  of  obeying  and  honour- 
ing one  Master,  and  from  love  to  him  following 
every  commandment  with  an  enlarged  heart.  This 
is  a  perfect,  whole,  unbroken  obedience,  though 
weak  and  imperfect  in  the  degree  to  which  it  is  car- 
ried on  the  earth.  It  is  the  work  of  God's  perfect 
Spirit,  writing  a  perfect  law  upon  the  heart  of  a 
fallible  and  imperfect  being, — and  forming  him  un- 
der this  renewing  influence,  after  the  image  of  God 
in  holiness  of  character  and  spirit.  It  constitutes 
that  holiness  of  Christian  character,  without  which 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.  This  is  the  way,  to 
which  our  text  directs, — as  the  one,  through  which 
we  are  to  attain  a  power  over  the  tree  of  life, — and  a 
right  to  enter  through  the  gates  into  the  city.  Who- 
soever climbs  up  any  other  way,  and  attempts  to 
separate  the  conformity  of  the  soul  to  Christ,  from 
the  fellowship  of  the  soul  with  Christ, — the  reward 
of  glory,  from  the  walk  in  holiness  through  grace, — 
the  same  is  a  thief  and  a  robber. 


LECT.  X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  167 

2.  But  a  consideration  of  the  worth  of  man's 
obedience  to  the  divine  commandments,  requires  us 
to  understand  the  character  under  ichich  this  obedience 
is  demanded^ — and  the  effect  ichich  it  is  to  poduce 
upon  our  eternal  condition. 

1.  It  is  not  the  meritorious  cause  of  our  salvation^ 
— or  the  thing  for  which  God  saves  us,  in  any  de- 
gree. We  are  saved  by  grace,  and  not  of  ourselves. 
No  obedience  could  have  the  effect  of  meriting  life, 
but  that  spotless  obedience  which  the  law  requires. 
The  only  merit  which  has  deserved  and  claimed 
salvation  for  us,  or  can  do  it,  is  that  obedience  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  which  has  actually  fulfilled  the  law, 
— and  which  is  off*ered  to  us,  as  a  free  gift  of  the 
grace  of  God,  when  we  are  perisliing  under  the  con- 
demnation of  sin,  and  because  we  are  thus  perish- 
ing. All  that  God  respects  in  us,  in  the  bestowal 
of  this  salvation,  is  our  need  and  misery.  When 
we  were  without  strength,  Christ  died  for  the  un- 
godly. This  obedience  unto  death  obtained  for  us 
a  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  of  entrance  into  the 
city  of  God.  By  this,  Jesus  has  become  the  author 
of  eternal  salvation  to  all  who  obey  him.  Our  own 
obedience  to  the  commands  of  God  our  Saviour,  is 
not  therefore  the  consideration,  for  which  God  be- 
stows upon  us  eternal  life,  or  gives  us  a  right  to  the 
security  and  enjoyment  of  his  people. 

2.  But  though  not  the  meritorious  cause  of  our 
salvation,  it  is  the  indispensable  antecedent  and  pep- 
arationfor  its  completion  in  eternal  glory.  And  it  is 
thus  required  of  us.  This  renewal  of  our  nature  in 
the  character  of  heaven,  and  the  likeness  of  God, — 
is  the  method  of  our  preparation  for  the  enjoyment 
of  the  presence  of  God  in  heaven, — just  as  an  ade- 


168  WORTH    OF    man's    OBEDIENCE  [lECT.  X. 

quate  education  in  the  business  of  this  world,  is  the 
method  of  preparation,  and  the  indispensable  ante- 
cedent, for  an  engagement  in  the  actual  duties  of 
this  business,  when  called  to  their  performance. 
The  business  of  heaven  is  unqualified  and  everlast- 
ing submission  to  the  will  of  God.  For  this,  the 
increasing  holiness  of  the  Christian  on  the  earth 
educates  and  prepares  him  more  and  more.  They 
who  have  lived  and  who  die  unto  the  Lord,  rest  in 
the  hour  of  their  death,  from  their  earthly  labours ; 
but  their  works  follow  them,  not  only  as  the  evi- 
dence of  their  character,  but  as  the  commencement 
of  that  life  of  perfect  obedience  to  God,  and  of  cor- 
dial delight  in  his  presence  and  government,  in 
which  they  are  to  be  occupied  forever.  Jesus  is 
the  way  that  leadeth  unto  life, — and  the  holiness  of 
his  servants  is  their  walking  in  this  way  of  divine 
provision.  There  is  no  other  method  in  which  we 
may  be  prepared  for  glory.  He  who  would  delight 
himself  in  the  eternal  contemplation  of  the  majesty 
and  glory  of  God,  must  not  become  habituated  here 
to  love  darkness  rather  than  light,  or  to  indulge  in 
works  that  are  evil.  Our  doing  the  commandments 
of  God,  is  a  travelling  onward  to  his  rest ;  a  walk- 
ing in  the  way  of  life.  And  the  worth  and  influ- 
ence of  this  obedience,  is  displayed  in  the  fact,  that 
it  is  of  necessity,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  in- 
dispensable preparative  and  antecedent,  to  the  glory 
which  this  rest  proposes. 

3.  Obedience  to  the  commandments  of  God  is 
required  of  us  under  the  Gospel,  as  a  debt  of  grat- 
itude to  Christ  J  and  an  evidence  of  our  love  for  him. 
This  is  the  motive  to  Christian  obedience  which 
Jesus  offers  us,  when  he  says,  "  If  ye  love  me,  keep 


LECT.  X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  169 

my  commandments."  True  love  to  Christ  will  con- 
strain us  to  live,  not  unto  ourselves,  but  for  him  who 
died  for  us  and  rose  again,  that  he  might  bring  us 
unto  God.  We  have  been  bought  by  him  with  a 
price,  that  we  may  glorify  him  in  our  bodies  and  our 
spirits,  which  are  his.  He  enjoins  it  upon  us,  as  the 
argument  and  evidence  of  friendship  to  him,  that 
we  follow  him  in  a  life  of  holiness, — and  endeavour 
to  walk  in  his  steps.  He  would  bind  us  here,  by 
those  cords  of  love  which  shall  hold  us  throughout 
eternity.  He  would  deal  with  us,  not  as  vassals 
and  servants  whom  he  can  govern  as  he  pleases, 
and  order  according  to  his  will, — but  as  the  chosen 
companions  and  friends,  in  whom  he  will  delight  for- 
ever, and  whose  hearts  he  would  now  attach  to  that 
holiness  and  purity,  in  which  he  desires  them  eter- 
nally to  shine  to  his  honour.  Our  conformity  to 
him,  and  imitation  of  his  life,  is  the  evidence  which 
he  asks  of  our  gratitude  for  his  mercy,  and  our  love 
for  his  character.  If  we  have  been  made  partakers 
of  his  redemption,  and  are  one  with  him  in  the  bonds 
of  an  everlasting  covenant,  thus,  the  necessary  and 
constant  gratitude  of  our  hearts  will  display  itself 
It  will  be  the  purpose  of  our  grateful  minds,  to  walk 
in  ways  of  holiness  before  him.  And  the  impor- 
tance of  this  gratitude  for  God's  unspeakable  gift, 
indicates  the  worth  and  influence  of  the  obedience 
to  the  divine  commandments,  w^hich  is  required  of 
us  under  the  Gospel. 

4.  Our  obedience  to  the  divine  commandments  is 
required  as  the  evidence  of  our  Christian  character — 
and  of  our  title  to  the  inheritance  of  the  people  of  God. 
Multitudes  may  say,  "  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us,  we 
have  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  eaten  and  drank 

8 


170  WORTH    OF    man's    OBEDIENCE  [lECT.    X. 

in  thy  presence,  and  thou  hast  taught  in  our  streets/' 
— to  whom  the  reply  must  be,  "  Not  ev6ry  one  that 
saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven, — but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my 
Father  who  is  in  heaven."  The  title  to  reward, — 
to  life  eternal, — is  the  perfect  obedience  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  "  He  that  hath  the  Son,  hath  life."  But  the 
evidence  that  this  title  has  been  conferred  upon  us, 
— and  that  this  perfect  obedience  is  made  ours 
through  grace, — is  in  the  renewing  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  by  which  we  are  sealed  unto  the  day 
of  redemption.  By  no  other  testimony  can  our  title 
be  established.  Vain  is  any  assertion  of  our  right 
to  the  tree  of  life,  or  claim  of  an  entrance  into  the 
City  of  God,  while  there  is  an  absence  of  this  one 
evidence  by  which  the  people  of  God  are  known. 
"  He  that  saith  he  abideth  in  him,  ought  himself 
also  so  to  walk,  even  as  he  walked."  "  In  this  the 
children  of  God  are  manifested,  and  the  children  of 
the  devil ;  whosoever  doeth  not  righteousness,  is  not 
of  God,  neither  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother." 
By  faith  which  accepts  and  rests  upon  Jesus  as  our 
righteousness  and  redemption,  we  are  justified,  and 
made  the  heirs  of  glory.  But  no  man  can  give  an 
evidence  of  the  possession  of  the  faith  which  justi- 
fies,— in  whom  there  is  not  an  obedience  in  holiness, 
a  working  by  love,  and  a  victory  over  the  world. 
An  unholy  follower  of  Jesus  is  a  manifest  contra- 
diction. As  animallife  cannot  be  indicated,  but  by 
the  active  functions  of  such  a  life, — no  more  can  the 
new,  spiritual  life  of  a  Christian  be  indicated,  but 
by  the  fulfilment  of  the  powers  and  tendencies  of 
such  a  life, — in  the  way  of  holy  obedience  to  God. 
And  the  worth  of  this  evidence  of  our  interest  and 


LECT.  X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  171 

union  with  Christ,  indicates  the  worth  of  our  obe- 
dience to  the  divine  commandments. 

5.  Our  obedience  to  the  divine  law,  is  necessary, 
to  bring  assurance  of  salvation  to  our  own  hearts. 
There  is  no  possible  method  by  which  a  man  in- 
dulging in  voluntary  sin,  can  be  justly  assured  of  tlie 
safety  of  his  own  soul.  To  suppose  it  possible, — is 
to  suppose  his  obtaining  assurance  of  that  which  has 
no  existence.  There  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked, 
saith  the  Lord.  Though  man's  obedience  is  not 
the  foundation  of  his  hope, — yet  his  hope  is  co-ordi- 
nate with  his  obedience.  And  there  can  be  no  hope 
for  a  disobedient  man.  If  you  can  suppose  a  child 
of  God,  to  turn  aside  from  following  after  holiness, 
— to  enter,  in  a  voluntary  choice,  upon  the  path  of 
disobedience,  we  must  affirm  that  man  to  be  upon 
the  broad  road  which  leadeth  to  destruction.  All 
his  righteousness  shall  not  be  mentioned  in  the  day 
of  his  transgression ; — for  his  iniquity  that  he  hath 
committed,  he  shall  die.  And  unless  he  be  con- 
verted from  his  sin,  and  renewed  unto  holiness,  in 
the  w  hole  character  of  his  soul,  he  shall  be  lost  for- 
ever. For  such  a  man,  to  retain  a  fancied  security, 
is  to  be  given  over  to  believe  a  lie.  The  work  of 
the  Spirit  upon  the  heart,  is  the  evidence  of  man's 
interest  in  the  promises  of  the  Saviour, — and  of  ne- 
cessity, the  measure  of  his  ow^n  assurance  of  hope. 
The  worth  of  his  obedience,  which  the  Spirit  thus 
produces  in  him, — is  measured  therefore  by  the 
worth  of  the  assurance  of  hope,  of  which  it  is  the 
evidence  and  proof  ''  Hereby  know  we  that  he 
abideth  in  us,  by  the  Spirit  which  he  hath  given  to 


us." 


6.  Our  obedience  to  the  divine  commandments  is 


172  WORTH    OF    man's    OBEDIENCE  [lECT.  X. 

necessary,  because  this  is  the  absolute  command  of 
Grod.  "  This  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sanctifi- 
cation."  He  has  absolutely  connected  man's  obedi- 
ence with  man's  security ;  and  they  cannot  be  put 
asunder.  He  requires  us  to  glorify  him,  in  the  good 
works,  which  he  hath  before  ordained  that  we  should 
walk  in  them.  All  that  he  has  desired  or  revealed, 
enjoined  upon  others,  or  done  himself, — is  that  he 
might  make  rebellious  and  unholy  beings,  once  more 
perfect  in  holiness  after  his  own  image.  For  this 
his  love  has  laboured.  For  this  his  grace  has  been 
exerted  and  displayed.  For  this  his  power  has  been 
manifested.  To  this  end,  the  command  which  can- 
not be  turned  aside  is  directed, — that  they  which 
believe  be  careful  to  maintain  good  works.  In  ad- 
dition therefore  to  all  the  influence,  which  the  re- 
newed obedience  of  man  might  have  in  itself,  upon 
his  hopes  and  prospects, — there  is  this  appointment 
of  divine  authority.  The  way  of  holiness  is  made 
by  the  will  of  God,  the  way  to  glory.  And  the 
worth  and  influence  of  man's  obedience  under  the 
Gospel,  is  displayed  in  the  fact,  that  this  is  the  offer- 
ing which  God  requires,  and  which  alone  he  will 
accept  from  man. 

We  have  in  these  points,  the  effect  of  man's  obe- 
dience to  God  upon  his  eternal  condition,  clearly  set 
before  us.  The  text  declares  that  they  who  do  his 
commandments  have  a  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and 
to  an  entrance  through  the  gates  into  the  city.  And 
they  are  blessed  and  happy  because  they  are  in  the 
possession  of  this  right.  It  is  not  that  their  right  is 
founded  upon  this  obedience.  But  this  obedience  is 
the  evidence  of  their  character,  the  mark  of  their 
condition,  the  proof  that  they  have  received  such 


LECT.  X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  173 

privileges,  as  the  unspeakable  gift  of  God  !  Were 
they  destitute  of  this  obedience,  they  could  give  no 
evidence  of  their  partnership  vrith  Christ,  in  the 
privileges  of  his  kingdom.  And  its  worth  is  mani- 
fested in  the  fact,  that  it  is  indispensable  for  the  se- 
curity of  their  souls, — and  to  their  possession  of  life 
eternal. 

III.  Here  then  we  see  who  are  the  real  candi- 
dates for  the  glory  and  bliss  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
They  are  those  who  are  growing  in  spiritual  holi- 
ness, who  are  maturing  in  deep  and  humble  piety, 
and  acquiring  daily,  more  of  the  blessed  and  lovely 
spirit  of  the  Redeemer  of  men.  They  have  been 
delivered  from  the  condemnation  of  the  law,  and 
from  the  punishment  due  to  sin ;  but  the  law  as 
their  rule  of  life  has  been  written  upon  their  hearts ; 
and  in  conformity  to  it,  they  are  bringing  forth  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit,  and  have  crucified  the  flesh,  with 
its  unholy  affections  and  lusts.  Our  confidence  in 
hope,  and  our  peace  in  believing,  will  always  rise 
or  fall  with  the  actual  conformity  of  our  character 
to  the  will  of  Christ,  and  our  watchfulness  and  de- 
votion to  the  attainment  of  this  conformity  to  Christ. 
We  are  to  grow  in  grace,  if  we  would  abound  in 
consolation  and  hope.  To  be  with  Christ,  and  to 
awake  up  after  his  likeness,  we  must  here  acquire 
an  entire  self-renunciation,  and  a  simple  union  of 
ourselves  with  him.  While  we  thus  press  forward 
in  the  path  of  obedience,  though  our  infirmities  and 
imperfections  are  many, — yet  being  of  one  mind,  and 
desiring  only  to  become  like  him  whom  w^e  love  and 
follow,  we  are  preparing  to  enter  through  the  gate 
into  the  city.  The  Saviour  will  pass  by  our  in- 
firmities, and  heal  our  backslidings, — will  look  to 


174  WORTH    OF    man's    OBEDIENCE  [LECT.    X. 

the  motive  and  purpose  by  which  we  have  been 
guided,  and  not  to  the  imperfections  which  have 
marked  the  accomplishment  of  them.  He  will  ac- 
cept us  according  to  that  which  we  have,  while  all 
that  we  had,  has  been  cheerfully  given  up  for  him, 
and  will  bid  us  to  come  as  the  blessed  of  his  Father, 
to  receive  the  kingdom  prepared  for  us  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world. 

But  sad  is  the  condition  of  those  who  cherish  a 
spirit  of  rebellion  and  disobedience  against  God. 
While  the  renewed  and  humble  Christian  enters 
through  the  gates  into  the  city,  the  door  is  shut 
against  them.  Cast  out  from  the  protection  gftid 
comfort  which  that  city  gives, — their  lot  is  with 
odious  and  abominable  beings,  and  whatsoever 
loveth,  or  maketh  a  lie.  God  will  look  upon  them 
then,  with  no  compassionate  tenderness.  Like  rep- 
robate silver  rejected  from  the  refiner's  vessel, — like 
tares  bound  in  bundles  for  the  fire, — they  are  finally 
cast  away,  with  no  eye  to  pity  them,  and  with  no 
arm  to  save.  The  wages  of  sin  is  death, — and  they 
who  have  sold  themselves  to  be  the  servants  of  sin 
on  earth,  must  receive  their  hire,  though  they  groan 
under  it,  throughout  eternity.  They  have  passed 
their  earthly  life  in  enmity  to  God.  They  have 
provoked  against  themselves,  the  vengeance  of  the 
Most  High.  They  have  rejected  the  holy  precepts 
of  the  law  as  their  rule  of  life ;  they  have  refused 
the  freedom  from  the  law  which  the  Saviour  of- 
fered ;  and  they  remain  under  the  fiery  condemna- 
tion of  the  law,  unpardoned  and  in  everlasting  de- 
spair. 

O,  what  can  there  be  in  the  temporary  pleasures 
of  transgression,  to  compensate  the  sinner  for  such 


LECT.  X.]  TO    THE    LAW.  175 

a  result  of  his  guilty  and  wasted  life  ?  How  strange 
is  it,  that  he  should  be  deluded  with  the  hope  of  se- 
curity in  sin,  when  God  hath  declared,  that  iniquity 
has  no  lurking  place  in  which  it  can  be  hidden, — 
that  though  he  could  dig  into  hell, — or  climb  up  into 
heaven, — he  should  not  escape  ; — and  neither  the 
top  of  Carmel,  nor  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  shall  afford 
a  shelter  for  his  soul.  The  only  path  to  safety,  is  in 
the  return  of  your  hearts  to  God,  in  a  new  and  holy 
life  in  obedience  to  his  will  and  in  conformity  to  his 
law ;  and  you  are  blessed  and  happy,  when  God 
has  convinced  you  of  your  sin,  and  brought  you 
back,  in  the  desire,  and  determination  to  serve  him 
in  newness  of  life.  To  this,  are  we  to  urge  you,  in 
all  the  invitations  and  admonitions  of  the  Gospel ; 
beseeching  you  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  and  through 
his  blessed  Spirit,  to  walk  before  him  in  newness 
of  life,  according  to  his  will. 


LECTURE  XL 


THE  SALVATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL  CONFIRMING  MAN'S 
OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  LAW. 


Do  we  then  make  void  the  law  through  faith  1    God  forbid  I  yea  we  estab- 
lish the  law. — Romans,  hi.  31. 


Great  boldness  of  expression,  and  remarkable 
unity  of  purpose,  characterize  the  writings  of  St. 
Paul.  With  great  boldness,  he  proclaims  always, 
the  doctrine  of  an  entirely  free  redemption  for  man, 
in  the  obedience  and  death  of  the  Son  of  God.  He 
consults  with  no  narrow  opposing  prejudice.  He 
overturns  all  the  plans  of  man's  native  pride  and 
self-righteousness.  He  exhibits  the  invitations  and 
promises  of  the  Gospel,  as  all  freely  offered,  to  all 
the  children  of  wrath,  by  the  same  Lord  over  all, 
who  is  rich  in  mercy  unto  all  who  call  upon  him. 
He  allows  nothing  to  the  power  or  works  of  un- 
converted man.  He  denies  all  worth  in  man's  at- 
tempted obedience  to  the  law  of  God.  He  affirms 
these  principles  of  truth  with  remarkable  unity  of 
purpose,  everywhere  teaching  the  very  same  doc- 
trine, as  God's  plan  of  mercy  and  salvation,  both  for 
the  Jews  and  for  the  Gentiles.  But  such  preach- 
ing as  this,  finds  arrayed  against  itself,  the  strongest 
prejudices  and  objections  of  the  human  heart.  To 
be  justified  freely  through  grace,  by  a  mere  confi- 
dence in  the  merit  of  Christ,  without  any  depen- 


LECT.  XI.]  SALVATION    OP    THE    GOSPEL,    ETC.  177 

dence  upon  the  works  of  personal  obedience,  or  any 
regard  to  the  excellencies  of  man  in  duty, — involves 
an  elevation  of  plan,  which  the  blinded  mind  of 
apostate  man  can  never  comprehend.     It  was  main- 
tained against  St.  Paul,  as  it  has  been  ten  thousand 
times  since,  that  such  a  system  destroyed  all  the 
obligations  to  human  obedience.     If  man's  personal 
conduct  and  good  behaviour  had  no  influence  upon 
his  acceptance  with  God,  all  motives  to  obedience 
to  the  divine  commands  would  be  taken  away  from 
him,  and  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  would  en- 
tirely destroy  the  law.     This  was  the  objection  to 
the  Apostle's  preaching,  which  was  thought  to  have 
force  in  Rome.     But  it  was  in  no  degree  peculiar  to 
Rome,  or  to  Jewish  prejudice,  or  to  Gentile  pride. 
It  is  the  language  and  the  honest  conception  of 
blinded  human  nature,     Man's  slavish  spirit,  while 
he  is  under  the  bondage  of  guilt,  can  conceive  of  no 
motive  to  duty  but  recompense  ;  nor  imagine  how 
one  who  is  not  lashed  by  the  restraint  of  fear,  can 
be  expected  to  avoid  the  enticements  and  pleasures 
of  sin.     The  Apostle  proclaims  that  God  has  pro- 
vided a  righteousness  wholly  distinct  and  separate 
from  man's  obedience,  in  which  man  is  justified 
by  simple  faith  in  the  testimony  of  God  that  offers 
it.     The  pride  of  man  rejects  this  offer  ;  and  covers 
up  his  rejection,  with  the  plea  which  is  urged  in  the 
text  before  us.     He  fancies  the  existence  of  an  ex- 
cellence in  his  own  character,  which  the  Gospel  re- 
fuses to  acknowledge  or  honour.     He  will  not  yield 
this  imaginary  ground,  to  find  justification,  through 
mere  mercy  to  unrighteousness  and  misery, — a  plan 
which  offers  the  same  benefit  to  the  vilest  of  men, 
as  to  the  most  exemplary  and  pure.     He  asserts 

8* 


178  SALVATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL       _LECT.  XL 

therefore  that  the  system  which  proposes  and  re- 
quires this,  has  a  demoralizing  tendency,  offers  a  pre- 
mium to  human  transgression,  and  thus  makes  void 
the  law  of  God.     The  Apostle  meets  this  objection 
in  our  text,  by  affirming  precisely  its  opposite, — that 
by  faith, — by  preaching  faith, — and  requiring  faith, 
— and  offering  to  faith, — and  exercising  faith, — we 
are  so  far  from  making  void  the  law,  that  we  thus 
confirm  and  establish  it.     The  term  laio  in  this  place, 
means  the  unalterable  law  of  moral  rectitude, — the 
rule  of  perfect  conformity  to  the  pure  and  spotless 
image  of  God.     The  law  of  transitory  ceremonies, 
and  local  and  national  restraints,  the  Gospel  annuls 
and  was  intended  to  annul.     But  the  law  of  perfect 
moral  obedience,  which  self-righteous  man  affirms 
that  it  destroys,  it  confirms  and  establishes  with  new- 
strength.     The  iexm  faith  has  reference  to  that  gra- 
cious system  of  redemption  which  is  provided  in 
the  Gospel,  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  which 
is,  that  all  its  blessings  are  freely  offered  to  the  soul 
that  believes  in  Christ  Jesus, — and  are  fully  be- 
stowed upon  this  faith,  and  made  secure  to  it.     It 
is  the  great  and  distinguishing  doctrine  of  the  Gos- 
pel, that  guilty  man  is  saved  and  accepted  with 
God,  solely  for  the  obedience  of  an  infinite  Saviour 
in  his  behalf,  and  without  any  regard  to  his  own 
want  of  merit  in  the  sight  of  God.     The  cordial  ac- 
ceptance of  this  doctrine  has  the  uniform  effect  in 
the  heart  of  the  individual  who  receives  it,  and  in 
the  community  of  Christians  who  retain  it,  of  estab- 
lishing the  authority  of  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life  over 
the  souls  of  men ;  and  of  building  up  men  in  that 
spiritual  holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord.     The  Gospel  annuls  the  law  as  a  cove- 


LECT.  XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  179 

nant,  by  proclaiming  that  entire  fulfilnrient  of  its  de- 
mands, which  is  found  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
as  a  substitute  for  man.  It  establishes  the  law  as  a 
rule  of  life,  and  confirms  and  enforces  its  obedience 
in  the  Christian's  experience  and  character.  This 
is  the  important  truth  we  have  now  to  consider. 
They  who  have  renounced  all  hope  of  salvation  in 
their  own  obediencej  and  have  accepted  a  free  and 
gracious  salvation  as  offered  in  the  Gospel,  have  re- 
ceived as  a  divine  gift  new  principles  and  motives, 
which  while  they  subvert  no  principle  of  holiness, 
confirm  and  perpetuate  all  the  commandments  of 
God. 

The  Gospel  produces  this  effect, 

I.  By  furnishing  to  those  who  embrace  it,  and  are 
partakers  of  its  hopes, — neio  views  of  truth  in  regard 
to  the  revelations  of  God.  "  The  natural  man  re- 
ceiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  neither 
can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned." All  man's  real  knowledge  of  divine  things 
is  from  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  by  the 
power  of  this  Spirit,  he  is  convinced  of  his  guilt  un- 
der the  law, — and  guided  to  Christ  as  its  fulfilment, 
— and  persuaded  and  enabled  to  embrace  his  prom- 
ises as  made  in  the  Gospel, — his  eyes  are  enlight- 
ened to  discern  the  things  which  God  reveals. 

1.  He  receives  an  entirely  new  view  of  the  excel- 
lence and  peifection  of  the  law  in  itself  His  natural 
heart  rebelled  against  the  divine  commandments, 
and  longed  for  some  standard  of  obedience  which 
should  grant  indulgence  to  his  sinful  infirmities,  and 
then  attribute  to  his  imperfect  and  partial  obedience, 
the  credit  of  submission  to  the  whole  will  of  God. 
Even  the  letter  of  the  divine  law  was  far  too  strict 


180  SALVATION    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  XI. 

for  him.  From  the  exceeding  breadth  and  applica- 
tion of  its  spirit,  he  recoiled  with  all  the  shuddering 
of  conscious  guilt.  It  seemed  to  breathe  out  against 
him  nothing  but  threatenings  and  condemnation. 
He  hated  the  commandments  of  God  for  the  very 
purity  of  their  character.  In  a  converted  and  re- 
newed heart,  this  spirit  of  rebellion  is  entirely  sub- 
dued. The  spiritual  mind  has  no  disposition  to  mit- 
igate the  strictness  of  the  divine  precepts.  Although 
such  a  man  sees  himself  to  be  condemned  by  every 
word  that  has  proceeded  out  of  the  mouth  of  God, 
shut  up  under  sin,  and  counted  guilty  before  God, 
he  still  acknowledges  with  thankfulness  and  reve- 
rence, that  the  law  is  holy,  just  and  good.  Though 
he  hopes  for  nothing  from  his  own  obedience  to  this 
law,  he  adores  its  perfect  and  heart-searching  holi- 
ness. He  imagines  no  relaxation  in  its  demands  as 
desirable.  He  does  not  wish  to  come  short  of  its 
holy  requisitions.  He  loves  the  very  purity  which 
shines  so  clearly  in  it,  in  the  condemnation  of  him- 
self He  sees  how  perfect,  abiding,  and  eternal,  is 
the  righteousness  which  it  demands,  and  which  it 
has  received  for  him.  There  is  everything  attrac- 
tive now,  nothing  repelling,  in  his  views  of  the  di- 
vine law ;  and  there  are  therefore  new  and  strong 
inducements  to  excite  and  persuade  him  to  follow 
after  the  holiness  which  it  exhibits,  and  to  become 
obedient  in  everything  to  the  commands  which  re- 
quire it.  In  this  new  perception  of  the  excellence 
of  the  law,  which  he  has  received,  the  Gospel  has 
not  destroyed  the  law  for  him,  but  confirmed  it. 

2.  He  has  an  entirely  new  view  of  his  own  char- 
acter and  life.  By  the  enlightening  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  he  discerns  the  real  state  of  his  own  heart, 


LECT.    XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  181 

and  the  aspect  which  his  life  presents  in  the  sight 
of  God.     He  sees  himself  to  be  carnal,  sold  under 
sin.     The  proud  and  self-confident  spirit  which  used 
to  say,  "  I  am  rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have 
need  of  nothing,"  is  broken  down  under  the  con- 
sciousness of  deeply  inherent  guilt,  and  just  and 
merited  condemnation.     He  sees  that  he  is  vile,  and 
has  just  reason  to  abhor  himself,  and  to  repent  in 
dust  and  ashes.     Every  recollection  of  his  life  fills 
him  with  shame  and  confusion  of  face.     He  beholds 
himself,  and  acknowledges  himself  to  be,  wholly 
lost  in  the  condition  of  his  own  soul.     But  this  pain- 
ful view  of  his  own  character  quickens  and  excites 
all  his  desires  for  holiness,  and  increases  his  abhor- 
rence of  transgression.     Sin,  which  seems  to  him  to 
be  everywhere  an  evil  and  a  bitter  thing,  appears 
far  more  so,  when  thus  beheld  in  connection  with 
himself      With   this   deep   feeling  within   him,  it 
would  be  no  gratification  to  him,  to  lower  the  stand- 
ard of  obedience.     He  longs  to  do  the  whole  perfect 
will  of  God.     He  puts  off  the  old  man  corrupted 
with  deceitful  lusts,  in  absolute  disgust  with  its  pol- 
luted character ;  he  is  contented  and  happy,  only  as 
he  can  put  on  the  new  man  renewed  in  holiness, 
after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him.     There  is 
nothing  in  transgression  which  can  attract  him ; 
every  aspect  of  it  is  hateful,  and  the  more  so,  from 
his   acknowledged    personal   interest   in   it.      The 
whole  effect  therefore,  of  this  new  view  of  himself, 
is  to  establish  within  his  heart,  the  authority  of  di- 
vine commandments,  to  confirm  upon  his  mind  the 
constraint  of  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life,  and  to  increase 
his  desire  for  a  personal  conformity  to  the  image  of 
God. 


182  SALVATION    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.    XL 

3.  He  has  received  a  new  and  affecting  view  of 
God  manifest  in  the  fleshy  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself y  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them.  In 
this,  there  is  no  countenance  given  to  sin.  The 
most  solemn  manifestation  which  could  be  given,  of 
God's  inflexible  justice  in  dealing  with  the  sins  of  his 
creatures,  is  beheld  in  this  mission  and  sacrifice  of 
the  only  begotten  Son  for  them.  Surely,  a  world  in 
flames,  would  not  so  fearfully  exhibit  the  guilt  and 
the  certain  punishment  of  transgression,  as  did  the 
sufferings  and  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  a  substi- 
tute and  ransom  for  the  ungodly.  Beholding  the 
justice  and  severity  of  God  displayed  in  this  scheme 
of  redemption  for  fallen  man,  the  justified  sinner 
feels  his  abhorrence  of  sin  the  more  deeply  im- 
pressed, and  his  fear  of  the  consequences  of  guilt, 
the  more  strongly  excited.  Though  he  may  have 
before  contemplated  the  mysterious  grandeur  of  the 
Saviour's  dying  hours, — never  until  he  was  taught 
to  feel,  that  this  Saviour  was  enduring  the  burden 
and  penalty  of  his  sins  upon  the  cross,  did  he  gain 
the  view  of  the  justice  and  holiness  of  God,  which 
is  there  displayed.  Now  he  has  a  knowledge  of  the 
power  of  God's  wrath,  which  is  nowhere  else  to  be 
obtained.  Every  sin  seems  to  him,  a  nail  which 
pierced  the  flesh  of  an  incarnate  God.  Every  suc- 
cessive consideration  of  the  death  of  Jesus  under 
this  aspect,  deepens  his  abhorrence  of  transgression. 
And  as  he  looks  upon  his  crucified  Lord  put  to 
death,  by  sin,  and  for  sin, — the  law  as  his  rule  of 
life,  gains  new  power  over  him,  to  restrain  him,  and 
make  him  holy.  But  he  does  not  look  upon  the  of- 
fering of  Jesus  merely  as  a  spectacle  of  awakened 
justice  in  the  punishment  of  sin.     He  contemplates 


LECT.  XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  183 

it  as  the  most  amazing  manifestation  of  the  love  of 
God  for  guilty  man.  Under  this  view,  he  loves  to 
look  upon  "  God's  unspeakable  gift."  He  beholds 
Jesus  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,  tread- 
ing the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of 
Almighty  God,  as  an  assurance  that  God  so  loved 
him  as  to  make  this  offering  in  his  behalf  He  re- 
joices in  the  confidence  that  this  blood  was  shed  for 
him,  that  he  might  not  come  into  condemnation,  but 
have  everlasting  life.  His  view  of  this  love  of  God 
to  sinners,  renders  still  more  deep,  his  abhorrence  of 
transgression  which  has  made  the  sacrifice,  which 
such  love  hath  offered,  necessary.  In  the  same  pro- 
portion in  which  the  love  of  Christ  appears  to  him 
exalted  and  disinterested,  will  the  exceeding  sinful- 
ness of  sin  become  the  more  apparent.  How^  then 
shall  he  continue  in  sin,  because  grace  abounds  7 
How  shall  he  crucify  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and 
put  him  to  an  open  shame  ?  He  has  already  sinned 
far  too  much,  and  he  has  no  desire  to  repeat  the  of- 
fences against  God,  which  have  laid  all  this  suffer- 
ing upon  his  Saviour,  and  for  which  the  time  past 
of  his  life  has  been  sufficient.  This  view  which  he 
has  received  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  con- 
firms the  authority  of  the  holy  law  upon  his  heart, 
as  his  rule  of  life,  and  makes  him  desire  with  in- 
creasing earnestness,  thoroughly  to  obey  its  com- 
mandments. 

These  are  some  of  the  views  of  truth  which  are 
given  to  the  justified  man,  when  he  is  delivered  from 
the  dominion  and  bondage  of  the  law,  and  freely  ac- 
cepted and  saved  by  grace.  Though  he  is  no  longer 
under  the  law,  the  enlightening  and  sanctifying  of 
his  mind  which  has  been  bestowed  upon  him,  tends 


184  SALVATION    OP    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  XI. 

to  confirm  and  establish  the  law,  in  its  constraint 
upon  him  as  a  rule  of  life,  in  every  commandment. 
What  the  law  could  not  do  for  itself  in  this  respect, 
God  in  sending  his  own  Son,  has  fully  accomplished. 

II.  The  acceptance  of  the  free  salvation  which  is 
offered  in  the  Gospel,  confirms  and  establishes  the 
authority  of  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life,  and  produces 
personal  holiness  in  man  in  obedience  to  it,  by  tlm 
new  motives  of  conduct  ichich  it  impresses  upon  him. 
These  motives  are  the  gifts  of  God,  and  first  operate 
upon  his  mind,  when  from  a  child  of  wrath,  he  be- 
comes in  the  conversion  of  his  soul  by  the  Spirit  of 
Grod,  a  child  of  grace.  A  new  tendency  is  then 
given  to  his  affections  and  his  mind,  and  under  its 
influence,  he  walks  in  newness  of  life,  transformed 
in  the  renewing  of  his  mind  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
exhibit  the  good,  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God. 

1.  He  is  conscious  now  of  a  sincere  gratitude  and 
love  towards  the  Lord  Jesus  Christy  who  has  re- 
deemed him  from  the  bondage  of  the  law,  and  set 
him  free  from  its  condemnation  forever.  In  him,  he 
finds  his  righteousness  and  salvation  perfectly  and 
everlastingly  secured.  He  looks  upon  himself,  as  a 
captive  bought  with  a  price,  an  inestimable  price ; 
and  the  love  of  Christ,  of  which  he  has  been  made 
the  object,  so  free  and  so  undeserved,  constrains  him 
to  yield  himself  as  a  living  sacrifice,  to  the  Lord  who 
owns  him  and  keeps  him  in  being  for  his  own  ser- 
vice and  glory.  If  there  were  no  written  law, 
whose  precepts  could  be  obligatory  upon  him,  this 
love  of  Christ  to  him,  operating  unceasingly  to  pro- 
duce love  for  Christ  in  return,  would  lead  him  to 
walk  in  his  steps,  to  imitate  his  example,  and  to 
adorn  his  holy  doctrine  by  a  holy  character  in  all 


LECT.    XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  185 

things.  This  principle  of  constraint,  leading  to  a 
voluntary,  cheerful  dedication  to  the  Lord,  is  insep- 
arable from  a  renewed  mind.  Under  all  circum- 
stances of  life,  the  heart  which  loves  Jesus  recurs 
to  this  holy,  harmless,  and  undefiled  example,  for  its 
guidance  and  encouragement.  Though  no  eye  should 
see  him,  and  no  law  should  constrain  him,  love  for 
such  a  Lord  would  not  allow^  the  true  Christian  to 
transgress.  He  has  been  made  the  object  of  un- 
speakable mercy  ; — he  has  been  renewed  in  a  love 
of  holiness, — and  he  longs  for  a  perfect  likeness  to 
Jesus, — and  rejoices  in  the  hope,  that  when  he  shall 
see  him  as  he  is,  he  shall  be  like  unto  him  forever. 
For  him,  "  the  grand  morality,  is  love  for  Christ." 
By  the  power  of  this  love  the  Gospel  leads  him  on 
to  "  perfect  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God."  The  au- 
thority of  the  law,  is  thus  enforced  upon  his  mind 
with  new  constraint,— and  though  delivered  from 
subjection  to  its  bondage,  he  loves  the  purity  of  its 
precepts,  and  longs  for  perfect  obedience  to  them. 

2.  This  consciousness  of  the  exalted  privileges  of 
ichich  he  has  been  made  the  possessor,  forms  another 
and  most  important  motive,  to  constrain  him  to  obe- 
dience. In  the  amazing  gifts  which  a  free  salvation 
brings  to  man,  are  included  many  particulars  of  in- 
estimable worth.  These  are  privileges  which  have 
all  been  freely  bestowed  upon  him  by  the  grace  of 
God.  And  though  they  are  all,  particulars  included 
in  the  one  great  gift  of  a  Saviour,  so  that  he  who 
hath  the  Son,  hath  them  all, — they  are  notwith- 
standing, separate  privileges,  and  operate  severally 
to  produce  for  him  the  joy  and  comfort  which  belong 
to  his  condition.  He  is  a  pardoned  man, — and  all 
his  fear  of  the  consequences  of  his  past  guilt,  are 


186  SALVATION    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  XL 

thus  removed,  through  the  grace  of  divine  forgive- 
ness. He  is  a  justified  man, — and  he  has  a  clear 
and  reasonable  hope  of  abiding  with  God,  in  the  in- 
heritance and  kingdom  which  he  hath  provided  for 
his  people.  He  is  adopted  into  the  family  of  Gbd, 
and  has  a  filial  and  free  spirit  in  approaching  the 
throne  of  his  Father  in  heaven.  He  is  sheltered  in 
the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  and  he  abides 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.  His  heart  is 
sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and  he  has  peace 
with  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  He  has  been  be- 
gotten again,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  his  affections  are  set  on  things  which  are  above, 
where  Jesus  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  He 
has  the  ministration  and  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
leading  his  heart  to  Christ,  and  assuring  him  that 
he  is  in  Christ,  and  his  soul  pants  for  the  purity  of 
the  Saviour  to  whom  he  is  brought.  These  privi- 
leges are  all  powerful  motives  to  obedience  to  God 
who  hath  conferred  them  all.  Dr.  Payson  sums 
them  up  with  singular  eloquence,  in  a  soliloquy  of 
his  dying  hours.  ''  What  an  assemblage  of  motives" 
said  he,  "  to  holiness,  does  the  Gospel  present !  I 
am  a  Christian.  What  then  ?  Why,  I  am  a  re- 
deemed sinner,  a  pardoned  rebel,  all  through  grace, 
— and  by  the  most  wonderful  means,  which  infinite 
wisdom  could  devise.  I  am  a  Christian.  What 
then  ?  Why,  I  am  a  temple  of  God  ;  and  surely  I 
ought  to  be  pure  and  holy.  I  am  a  Christian. 
What  then  ?  I  am  a  child  of  God,  and  ought  to  be 
filled  with  filial  love,  reverence,  joy,  and  gratitude. 
I  am  a  Christian.  What  then  1  Why  I  am  a  dis- 
ciple of  Christ,  and  must  imitate  him  who  was  meek 
and  lowly  in  heart,  and  pleased  not  himself.     I  am 


• 


LECT.    XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  187 

a  Christian.  What  then  7  Why,  I  am  an  heir 
of  heaven,  and  hastening  on  to  the  abodes  of  the 
blessed,  to  join  the  full  choir  of  the  glorified  ones  in 
singing  the  song  of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb,  and 
surely  I  ought  to  learn  that  song  on  earth."  How 
can  man  make  void  the  law  by  his  love  for  sin,  who 
is  in  possession  of  such  privileges  as  these  ?  The  in- 
consistency is  manifest  and  entire.  There  can  be  no 
higher  influence  exercised  upon  the  heart,  than  that 
which  comes  from  the  consciousness  of  these  bless- 
ings, leading  man  to  love  the  Being  who  hath  so 
loved  him,  and  to  follow  after  holiness,  without  which 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 

3.  The  perfect  purity  of  his  heavenly  home^  the 
everlasting  inheritance  of  his  soul,  presents  another, 
and  most  efficient  motive,  to  lead  him  to  perfect 
holiness  in  the  fear  of  God.  The  very  glory  of  the 
heaven  which  he  seeks,  is  the  perfection  of  its  holi- 
ness. The  high  and  lofty  One  who  inhabiteth  this 
eternity,  is  named  holy.  The  innumerable  beings 
who  dwell  around  him,  are  all  holy  as  he  is  holy. 
There,  nothing  shall  enter  that  in  any  wise  defileth. 
The  man  who  has  been  fully  justified  in  the  free 
salvation  of  the  Gospel,  looks  forward  to  this  con- 
dition, as  the  perfection  of  his  character.  He  is  to 
be  completely  sanctified,  and  conformed  entirely  to 
the  image  of  God,  that  he  may  be  an  adequate  and 
appropriate  partaker  of  this  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light.  He  is  made  to  long  for  purity  of  personal 
character,  as  he  longs  for  a  heavenly  habitation. 
Though  for  his  whole  title  to  this  habitation,  he 
looks  to  Jesus  as  his  righteousness,  yet  in  his  ability 
to  enjoy  its  blessings  and  glories,  and  to  be  at  home 
in  his  purchased  inheritance,  his  own  purity  of  heart 


188  SALVATION    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  XI 

is  indispensable.  Thus  only  can  he  see  God.  How 
then  can  faith  make  void  the  law,  when  man's  obe- 
dience to  the  law,  is  the  only  preparation  for  the  in- 
heritance which  faith  receives  and  expects  1  The 
grace  which  has  delivered  him  from  the  bondage 
and  punishment  of  his  past  violations  of  the  law, 
has  set  him  at  liberty,  only  that  he  may  be  enabled 
and  induced  to  obey  its  precepts  more  perfectly  in 
time  to  come.  Looking  for  the  blessed  hope,  and 
the  glorious  appearing  of  his  God  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  he  lays  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin 
which  doth  so  easily  beset  him,  that  he  may  run 
with  patience,  to  gain  the  joy  which  is  before  him. 

These  are  motives  to  action  which  the  Gospel  im- 
parts to  the  Christian,  and  the  constraint  of  which 
it  imposes  upon  his  heart.  Their  operation  is  en- 
tirely new,  and  peculiar  to  the  influence  of  the  Gos- 
pel. By  them,  it  excites  him  to  obedience,  and  con- 
firms and  establishes  the  authority  of  the  law  upon 
him.  He  is  thus  urged  to  give  all  diligence,  in  run- 
ning the  path  of  the  divine  commandments,  and  to 
grow  in  grace,  in  conformity  to  the  will  of  God. 
His  bonds  are  loosed,  that  he  may  offer  a  free  and 
acceptable  service.  His  heart  is  enlarged,  that  he 
may  walk  in  newness  of  life  with  the  Lord  his  God. 
He  loves  holiness,  because  he  loves  God  who  is  in- 
finitely holy.  And  the  free  salvation  which  he  has 
received  by  faith,  confirms  and  establishes  the  au- 
thority of  the  law,  as  the  rule  of  holiness,  and  the 
rule  of  life  for  him. 

HI.  The  free  salvation  of  the  Gospel  establishes 
man's  obedience  to  the  law,  by  the  7ieio  means  of  at- 
taining this  obedience  ichich  it  provi(j£s  fo?-  man.  In 
exhibiting  these  means  of  holiness,  I  need  not  dwell 


LECT.    XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  189 

upon  mere  instruments,  because  in  themselves  they 
are  nothing.  There  is  one  great  agent,  a  living  and 
life-giving  agent,  vv^hose  office  it  is  to  create  man 
anew  in  holiness,  and  by  w^hom  alone,  any  instru- 
ments are  made  availing  and  useful.  The  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  man,  are  peculiar  to  the  Gospel.  It  is  called 
"  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus," — 
and  "  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit," — because  it  is 
the  system  of  grace  and  truth,  which  confers  this 
Spirit,  and  is  made  effective  by  his  power.  This 
divine  Spirit,  the  Gospel  confers  on  all  who  receive 
it ;  and  whatever  measure  of  personal  holiness  any 
man  obtains,  is  from  the  gift  of  this  Spirit,  who  di- 
videth  to  every  man  severally  as  he  will.  From 
him,  all  man's  obedience  to  the  law  is  derived.  In 
his  own  nature,  man  has  no  strength  to  obey  divine 
commandments.  His  sufficiency  for  this  end,  is  from 
immediate  divine  communication.  When  he  is  first 
converted  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  this 
gracious  comforter  begins  his  abode  within  him,  and 
inhabits  him,  as  a  temple  of  the  Living  God.  From 
that  hour  he  operates  with  increasing  success,  in 
bringing  down  every  high  thought,  and  every  imag- 
ination which  exalteth  itself  against  the  will  of  God, 
until  the  whole  soul  and  spirit  are  brought  into  cap- 
tivity to  the  obedience  of  Christ.  The  whole  influ- 
ence of  this  heavenly  agent,  is  directed  to  the  ulti- 
mate point  of  man's  entire  obedience  to  God.  To 
attain  this,  he  maintains  an  unceasing  warfare 
within  the  renewed  soul,  contending  with  every  lust, 
and  overcoming  the  influence  of  every  temptation. 
He  inspires  a  love  for  the  holy  character  which  the 
law  describes,  and  a  desire  to  attain  it.     He  leads 


190  SALVATION  OP  THE  GOSPEL       [lECT.  XI. 

the  servant  of  God  to  choose  his  testimonies  as  his 
heritage  forever,  and  to  make  them  the  very  joy  of 
his  heart.  Having  brought  him  to  the  glorious  priv- 
ilege of  being  a  child  of  God,  this  Blessed  Spirit 
enables  him  to  walk  worthy  of  his  high  vocation, 
and  as  becomes  the  children  of  the  light ;  pressing 
him  forward  to  the  constant  improvement  of  his 
character,  and  to  the  attainment  of  the  prize  of  his 
high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  To  do  all  this 
is  the  covenant  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  re- 
deemed soul,  writing  upon  it  the  divine  law, — and 
cleansing  it  from  all  its  corruptions  and  all  its  de- 
filements. For  this,  he  dwells  abidingly  in  every 
one,  who  has  been  justified  by  grace,  and  made  a 
partaker  of  the  free  salvation  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  the  Lord.  He  becomes  the  fountain  and 
source  of  holiness  to  man, — putting  life  into  every 
instrument,  and  giving  energy  and  power,  to  the  or- 
dinances which  God  has  appointed  under  the  Gos- 
pel. By  furnishing  such  an  agent  of  holiness,  the 
Gospel  surely  promotes  the  holiness  of  those  w^ho 
receive  it ;  and  in  his  operation  confirms  and  estab- 
lishes man's  new  obedience  to  the  divine  law. 

In  these  three  aspects  of  the  influence  upon  man, 
which  the  free  salvation  of  the  Gospel  exerts,  we 
see  the  tendency  which  it  has  to  confirm  the  law.  It 
gives  to  man  new  views  of  truth.  It  impresses  upon 
him  new  motives  to  obedience.  It  places  within 
him  new  means  of  purity.  And  it  thus  brings  into 
operation  upon  him,  every  possible  inducement,  to 
give  obedience  to  the  divine  law,  and  to  walk  with 
God,  in  a  consistent  and  uniform  life  of  holiness. 
This  is  the  operation  of  the  free  justification  from 
the  law,  which  is  here  provided.     And  while  the 


LECT.    XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  191 

deluded  and  laborious  self-justifier  attempts  to  work 
out  a  righteousness  for  himself,  and  to  creep  up  the 
rugged  path  of  compulsory  obedience  to  God,  the 
believer  in  the  Gospel,  saved  by  grace,  justified 
freely  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  "  mounts  up 
with  wings  as  eagles, — runs  and  is  not  weary,  walks 
and  is  not  faint," — and  gives  to  the  law,  the  very 
obedience,  through  the  provisions  of  the  Gospel, 
which  the  other  has  vainly  attempted  to  render 
without  them. 

IV.  The  practical  influence  of  this  subject,  is  very 
manifest  and  important. 

It  adapts  itself  to  those  who  have  been  already 
justified  freely  by  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord,  and  have  found  for  their  enjoyment,  peace 
in  him.  Brethren,  I  beseech  you,  by  the  arguments 
which  it  urges,  that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God 
in  vain.  You  are  a  spectacle  to  angels  and  to  men ; 
— surrounded  by  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses,  who 
must  look  to  your  habitual  conduct,  as  the  commen- 
tary upon  your  doctrine,  and  the  evidence  of  the  ac- 
tual influence  of  the  holy  principles  which  you  pro- 
fess. You  are  indeed,  not  under  the  law,  but  under 
grace.  But  suffer  no  temptation  on  this  account,  to 
lead  you  to  neglect  a  watchful  and  persevering  obe- 
dience of  divine  commands.  You  have  already 
gathered  fruits  sufficiently  bitter,  from  the  things 
whereof  ye  are  now  ashamed.  O  suffer  not  the  end 
of  these  things  to  be  death,  by  a  continuance  in  the 
indulgence  of  them  still.  ''  As  he  which  hath  called 
you  is  holy,  so  be  ye  holy  in  all  manner  of  conver- 
sation." The  character  and  influence  of  the  Gk)spel 
is  made  always  dependent  upon  the  character  of 
those  who  profess  it.     Make  this  then  an  ever-pres- 


192  SALVATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL       [lECT.  XI. 

ent  consideration.  Have  it  as  the  object  of  your  de- 
sire and  effort,  so  to  walk  in  the  example  of  Jesus, 
as  to  shew  forth  his  praise  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked 
and  perverse  generation,  among  whom  ye  shine  as 
lights  in  the  world.  With  no  boasting  spirit  seek- 
ing glory  for  yourselves,  but  with  an  humble  deter- 
mination to  honour  the  Saviour's  name  and  truth, 
be  growing  in  humility,  meekness,  and  separation 
from  the  world  ;  steadfast,  immovable,  ever  abound- 
ing in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know 
that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  The 
more  you  dwell  in  love  for  Christ,  a  love  that  will 
lead  to  a  keeping  of  his  commandments,  will  you 
increase  in  a  happy  preparation  for  his  presence  and 
glory  forever.  He  hath  granted  you  every  privilege 
to  enable  you,  and  every  motive  to  urge  you,  to  such 
a  walk  with  him,  as  shall  adorn  the  doctrine  which 
you  have  received.  He  hath  set  before  you  the 
ground  to  be  possessed,  and  the  duty  to  be  finished, 
and  looks  to  you,  to  occupy  and  improve,  until  he 
come.  Upon  the  influence  which  you  exercise, 
there  is  much  resting  in  the  efficiency  of  the  Gospel 
among  men.  Let  a  sense  of  your  responsibility 
control  you  at  all  times, — and  lead  you  to  live  as 
in  his  sight,  who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead 
at  his  appearing,  and  bring  every  secret  thought  into 
judgment,  whether  it  be  good,  or  whether  it  be  evil. 
O,  that  you  may  be  blameless  and  harmless  as  the 
children  of  God,  shining  as  lights  in  the  world  in 
which  you  dwell. 

But  there  are  those  perhaps  before  me,  who  are 
far  from  this  justified  and  accepted  state.  To  them 
the  grace  of  God  has  been  long  offered  in  vain.  Its 
fruitless  operation  upon  them,  may  have  given  oc- 


LECT.    XI.]  CONFIRMING    THE    LAW.  193 

casion  to  many  objections  against  its  proclamation 
to  mankind.  They  have  caused  the  way  of  truth 
to  be  evil  spoken  of.  This  is  a  result  for  w^hich  God 
is  not  responsible,  nor  the  word  of  his  truth  to  blame. 
Let  them  look  to  this.  These  solemn  revelations 
are  not  at  all  the  less  the  word  of  God,  because  they 
are  made  a  savour  of  death  unto  death  in  those  who 
perish.  If  among  you  our  Gospel  be  hid,  it  is  to 
those  only  who  are  lost,  and  are  willing  to  remain 
so ;  in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded 
their  minds,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of 
Christ  should  shine  into  them.  You  may  have  diffi- 
culties in  your  way.  But  they  are  not  insuperable ; 
— nor  can  God  be  made  answerable  for  them.  False 
and  unlijoly  professors  of  the  Gospel  may  be  stum- 
bling blocks  in  your  path  ;  woe  unto  them  if  they  are. 
But  this  is  no  excuse  for  you.  You  are  to  look  off 
from  every  other  object  to  Jesus,  the  author  and 
finisher  of  the  faith.  In  his  example,  there  is  no 
rock  of  offence.  In  his  precepts  and  teaching,  there 
is  no  blemish  upon  perfect  excellence.  I  beseech 
you  also,  that  you  humbly  and  thankfully  receive 
the  grace  of  God,  and  as  ye  have  yielded  yourselves 
servants  unto  iniquity,  so  now  yield  yourselves  ser- 
vants of  righteousness  unto  holiness.  Suffer  the  re- 
newing vSpirit  of  God  to  make  you  free  from  sin  and 
partakers  of  his  holiness,  in  bringing  your  souls  to 
Christ  to  be  made  partakers  of  his  free  and  full  sal- 
vation. This  is  the  way  to  life  eternal ;  walk  ye  in 
it,  turning  neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left. 
Glorify  God  who  thus  freely  justifies  and  saves  you, 
by  a  life  of  holy  obedience  on  earth,  and  when  the 
Chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  you  shall  receive  the 
crown  of  glory  which  fadeth  not  away. 


LECTURE   111. 

THE  PERFECTION  OF  THE  DIVINE  LAW. 

The  Law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect. — Psalm  xix.  7. 

To  a  sanctified  mind  it  is  a  delightful  privilege  to 
contemplate  the  divine  perfections.  The  Psalmis* 
occupies  large  portions  of  his  inspired  compositions, 
in  the  expressions  of  this  operation  of  his  mind.  In 
that  which  we  are  accustomed  to  call  distinctively 
adoration,  which  is  apparently  but  the  mere  telling 
C^d  how  glorious  he  is,  acknowledging  his  great- 
ness, and  ascribing  to  him  the  attributes  which  he 
is  known  to  possess,  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
psalms  are  entirely  employed ;  and  in  none  of  them 
probably,  will  this  subject  be  found  altogether  omit- 
ted. I  do  not  speak  of  this,  as  a  planned  division 
of  the  offerings  of  prayer  and  praise,  but  as  the 
spontaneous  expression  of  a  mind  w^hich  has  been 
enlightened  and  renewed  by  the  grace  of  God,  as  it 
is  employed  in  a  contemplation  of  the  character  of 
God,  and  finds  the  meditation  upon  him  to  be  sweet. 
Such  a  mind  will  enjoy  instinctive  delight  in  con- 
templating and  commemorating  the  purity  and  ex- 
cellence and  majesty  of  God  its  exceeding  joy.  It 
will  delight  in  exclaiming  with  Moses ;  "  I  will  pub- 
lish the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  ascribe  ye  greatness  unto 
our  God :  he  is  the  rock ;  his  work  is  perfect,  for  all 


LECT.  XII.]       PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.  195 

his  ways  are  judgment;  a  God  of  truth,  and  with- 
out iniquity,  just 'and  right  is  he."  It  will  rejoice 
to  say  with  David ;  "  O  Lord,  our  Lord,  how  ex- 
cellent is  thy  name  in  all  the  earth  ;"  "  Great  is  the 
Lord,  and  greatly  to  be  praised."  ''  Sing  praises 
unto  God,  sing  praises ;  sing  praises  unto  our  king, 
sing  praises"  It  will  unite  with  St.  Paul  in  his 
enraptured  offering  of  homage ;  "  O,  the  depth  of  the 
riches  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God !  HoW 
unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past 
finding  out."  It  will  love  to  use  the  appointed  as- 
cription of  our  blessed  Saviour;  ''Thine  is  the 
kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  forever  and 
ever."  This  is  the  employment  of  holy  beings  in  a 
heavenly  world ;  and  the  more  nearly  we  are  brought 
to  their  character  and  their  condition,  shall  we  be 
the  more  able  to  unite  in  the  work  which  constitutes 
the  happiness  of  their  state. 

It  is  one  view  of  this  glorious  subject,  and  a  most 
important  one,  which  is  exhibited  in  our  present 
text.  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect."  The  law 
of  Jehovah  is  but  a  copy  of  himself;  the  revelation 
to  his  creatures  of  his  own  desire,  determination, 
and  will.  And  the  very  state  of  mind  which  leads 
his  creatures  to  love  himself,  will  lead  them  also  to 
love  his  law.  The  heart  that  delights  in  him,  will 
be  ready  to  say,  also,  O,  how  I  love  thy  law ;  it  is 
my  meditation  all  the  day."  The  law  or  will  of 
God  is  made  known  to  his  creatures  in  a  variety  of 
methods,  and  can  by  no  means  be  confined,  even  as 
it  is  revealed  to  man,  to  the  mere  written  testimony 
which  God  has  given  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  of  his 
commands.  All  of  these  methods  of  communication 
from  God  to  man,  are  in  their  measure  and  degree, 


196  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.        [lECT.  XII. 

revelations  of  his  will ;  of  what  he  does  and  designs 
for  himself  in  his  government  of  man  ;  or  of  what 
he  requires  man  to  do  for  him.  And  as  each  dis- 
tinct revelation  of  the  mind  and  will  of  God  is  made, 
and  opened  to  our  view,  and  subjected  to  our  con- 
templation ;  the  renewed  mind  will  delight  in  con- 
sidering it,  and  feel  constrained  to  say  of  it,  as  of  the 
divine  character  which  it  represents,  "  the  law  of  the 
Lord  is  perfect.''  This  perfection  of  the  divine  laio, 
is  the  subject  to  which  I  ask  your  attention  in  the 
present  discourse  as  a  fit  conclusion  for  the  series 
of  instruction  through  which  we  have  passed.  It  is 
an  eminently  practical  and  instructive  subject ;  may 
God  enable  us  by  his  grace,  adequately  to  illustrate, 
understand  and  improve  it !     We  will  consider  it, 

I.  In  its  active  operation^  as  it  is  seen  in  the  Divine 
Providence. 

II.  In  its  holy  principles^  as  they  are  recorded  in 
the  sacred  Scriptures. 

III.  In  its  perfect  consummation^  as  it  is  revealed, 
accomplished  and  honoured,  in  the  obedience  and 
death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

I.  ''  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,"  as  it  is  dis- 
played in  its  operation^  in  the  arrangements  and  sys- 
tem of  the  divine  providence.  That  which  we  are 
accustomed  to  call  the  divine  providence,  is  but  the 
actual,  practical  government  of  God  over  his  crea- 
tures. It  is  the  administration  by  his  own  hand, 
and  in  his  own  way,  according  to  the  designs  of  his 
infinite  love,  and  the  dictates  of  his  unsearchable 
wisdom,  of  that  perfect  law  which  he  has  himself 
established.  This  practical  administration  of  the 
divine  government,  carrying  out  in  full  operation  the 
perfect  principles  of  equity  and  truth,  is  that  which 


LECT.  XII.]       PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.  197 

we  generally  call  technically  the  icill  of  God.  "  He 
doeth  all  things  after  the  counsels  of  his  own  will." 
"Who  hath  resisted  his  wilH"  It  is  this  will 
which  assigns  to  every  creature,  his  place  and  his 
condition,  in  the  circumstances  and  duties  of  which, 
while  he  fulfils  the  obligations  which  are  laid  upon 
him,  he  is  to  bring  the  highest  glory  to  God  of 
which  his  nature  and  capacity  are  susceptible.  It 
is  this  administration  of  the  law  of  the  Lord  by  his 
own  hands,  in  the  government  which  he  has  estab- 
lished, which  constitutes  the  unvarying  harmony  of 
the  heavenly  world  ;  which  there,  in  the  perfection 
of  its  operation,  brings  honour  to  the  Great  Ruler  of 
all,  from  countless  hosts  of  beings  of  immaculate 
excellence,  who  shine  around  him  in  all  the  lustre 
and  beauty  of  pure  and  perfect  obedience.  It  is 
this  which  arranges  the  almost  infinite  gradations 
of  animate  being ;  which  places  an  archangel  before 
the  throne  of  God,  a  man  in  all  the  conflicts  and 
trials  of  his  probation  on  earth,  and  a  worm  to  creep 
in  the  dust  beneath ;  and  then  makes  all  the  works 
of  God  to  praise  him.  It  is  this,  which  among  men, 
assigns  the  bounds  of  their  habitations  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  their  condition  in  uncounted  varieties ; 
which  measures  out  their  cup  of  trials,  or  their  por- 
tion of  enjoyments,  giving  an  account  of  none  of  his 
matters,  and  then  proclaims  among  them  all,  "  I  will 
work,  and  who  shall  let  it."  It  is  this,  which  while 
it  regulates  the  destinies  of  nations,  and  the  affairs 
of  kingdoms  as  a  very  little  thing,  marks  and  directs 
with  equal  precision,  the  sparrow  as  it  falls,  and 
watches  over  the  young  ravens  when  they  cry. 
This  is  the  practical  exhibition  to  man,  of  the  oper- 
ation of  the  law  of  the  Lord  ;  the  appointments 


198  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVIP4E    LAW.       [lECT.  XII. 

which  he  calls  "  the  ordinances  of  heaven."  How- 
ever various  and  incidental,  its  successive  develop- 
ments may  appear  to  the  imperfect  conception  of 
man,  "  known  unto  God  are  all  his  works,  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world."  He  pursues  the  one  great 
plan  which  he  has  laid  down  ;  administers  the  per- 
fect law  which  he  has  established ;  and  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  this  perfect  law,  reveals  his  own 
character  and  excellency  in  successive  degrees  to 
the  mind  of  man. 

In  this  view  of  its  operation  in  divine  government, 
"  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect."  It  is  the  highest 
possible  demonstration  of  the  goodness,  greatness 
and  perfections  of  God.  He  regards  it  in  its  various 
operations,  looks  upon  its  production  of  designed  re- 
sults, and  it  "  seemeth  good,"  appears  beautiful  and 
excellent,  in  his  sight.  He  bears  his  own  testimony 
to  the  excellence  of  its  character,  and  of  its  oper- 
ation. When  the  Scripture  gives  its  highest  ac- 
count of  the  perfections  of  the  first  creation,  its  lan- 
guage is,  "  God  saw  everything  that  he  had  made,  and 
behold  it  was  very  good."  His  own  excellence  was 
reflected  unmarred  in  beauty  from  his  works.  And 
when  the  blessed  Jesus,  speaking  of  the  government 
of  God,  as  exhibited  in  one  of  the  ordinances  of 
heaven,  one  of  the  ways  of  God,  which  is  to  man, 
the  darkest  and  most  unintelligible  of  all  the  distri- 
bution of  the  gifts  and  privileges  of  grace,  says,  "  I 
thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise 
and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes ;" 
— it  is  with  the  same  acknowledgment  of  the  per- 
fection of  the  appointment  as  it  was  viewed  by  a 
thoroughly  discerning  eye, — ''  Even  so  Father,  for 


LECT.  XII.]        PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE   LAW.  199 

SO  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight.''  I  need  hardly  re- 
mark, that  whatever  appears  good,  excellent,  and 
beautiful,  in  the  sight  and  estimation  of  God,  must 
have  the  highest  perfection  in  itself.  And  this  is 
the  divine  description  of  that  administration  of  the 
law  of  God,  which  we  are  accustomed  to  call  his 
Providence.  However  it  may  appear  irregular  to 
man,  who  but  blindly  scans  its  separate  parts,  it  is 
one  uniform  system  of  divine  sovereignty  and  order, 
of  which  it  may  be  said  in  perfect  application  of 
Lord  Bacon's  beautiful  expression  slightly  varied, 
*'  it  moves  in  charity,  rests  in  wisdom,  and  turns 
upon  the  poles  of  truth."  The  Holy  Scripture  is  so 
full  of  testimonies  to  this  perfection  of  the  divine 
law,  in  its  practical  operation,  that  it  would  be  vain 
to  attempt  to  quote  them.  Of  this,  Moses  says, 
"  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O,  Lord,  among  the  gods  ? 
Who  is  like  unto  thee,  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in 
praises,  doing  wonders."  Of  this  Isaiah  says,  "I 
will  exalt  thee,  I  will  praise  thy  name,  for  thou  hast 
done  wonderful  things ;  thy  counsels  of  old  are 
faithfulness  and  truth ;"  and  again,  in  reference  to 
the  voluntary  employments  of  men  in  the  common 
business  of  human  life,  ''  This  also  cometh  forth 
from  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  wonderful  in  coun- 
sel, and  excellent  in  working." 

Such  were  the  views  which  holy  men  who  spake 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  conceived 
of  the  practical  government  of  God.  They  rejoiced 
in  contemplating  the  perfection  of  this  wise  and 
holy  administration  of  the  most  High.  They  saw 
how  holy  and  gracious  he  is  in  these  revelations  of 
himself;  and  they  felt  supremely  happy  in  the 
thought,  that  he  is,  "  God  over  all,"  exercising  in 


200  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.       [lECT.    XIl. 

just  and  wise  sovereignty,  the  indisputable  right,  of 
doing  what  he  will  with  his  own.  Such  will  al- 
ways be  the  language  of  triumphant  faith  upon  this 
subject.  It  discerns  perfection  in  all  the  dealings  of 
God ;  delights  to  feel  itself  entirely  in  his  wise  and 
merciful  hands ;  and  desires  to  stand  complete  in 
all  the  will  of  God.  Such  was  the  spirit  which  ac- 
tuated the  eminent  Dr.  Payson,  when,  on  being 
asked  in  his  last  sickness,  "  if  he  could  see  any  rea- 
son, why  God  was  afflicting  him  with  such  peculiar 
sorrows," — answered,  "  No,  but  I  am  as  well  satis- 
fied, as  if  I  saw  ten  thousand ;  the  will  of  God  is 
the  perfection  of  all  reason."  How  entirely  such  a 
contemplation  shuts  out  all  murmuring  and  rebellion 
from  the  Cliristian's  heart !  How  it  quells  the  dis- 
satisfaction and  repining  which  the  trials  of  disap- 
pointment and  sorrow  are  apt  to  produce!  How 
completely  it  secures  the  real  and  permanent  hap- 
piness of  the  child  of  God !  With  what  delight, 
such  a  spirit  will  exclaim  with  David,  "  As  for  God, 
his  way  is  perfect ;  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  tried ; 
he  is  a  buckler  to  all  them  that  trust  in  him."  Un- 
der the  influence  of  this  view  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment, this  conviction  of  the  perfection  of  the  divine 
law,  the  Christian  is  led  to  rejoice,  that  he  is  just 
where  he  is,  and  what  he  is.  The  God  whom  he 
loves,  and  to  whom  he  belongs,  has  placed  him 
where  it  seems  good  in  his  sight,  and  he  asks  for  no 
change.  There  is  to  his  mind,  instructed  by  God, 
and  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  such  a  perfec- 
tion and  excellency  in  the  divine  will,  that  he  can- 
not imagine  an  improvement  which  could  be  made 
in  it.  He  blesses  God  for  the  honour  of  being  made 
a  part  of  the  system  of  his  government ;  of  being 


LECT.    XII.]      PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.  201 

considered  at  all,  in  the  arrangements  of  his  wisdom 
and  love.  He  does  not  therefore  submit  to  the  di- 
vine w^ill  merely,  becauvse  he  cannot  resist  it.  He  is 
made  able  to  say,  "  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  God ; 
yea  thy  law  is  within  my  heart." 

II.  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,"  in  its  prin- 
ciplcSj  as  they  are  recorded  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
These  Scriptures  are  "  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 
God  has  here  displayed  to  us,  with  a  light  and  clear- 
ness which  none  but  he  can  give,  the  great,  uniform 
and  holy  principles,  upon  which  he  arranges  his  own 
government,  and  which  he  requires  men  to  adopt  as 
the  exemplar  and  standard  of  theirs.  There  he 
has  exhibited  also  the  important  and  benevolent  ends, 
the  attainment  of  which  he  designs,  in  the  practical 
use  of  these  blessed  principles  in  his  own  adminis- 
tration, and  the  everlasting  and  glorious  issues,  which 
he  would  have  his  creatures  attain,  in  acting  upon 
the  same  principles  in  imitation  of  himself.  To 
w^hichsoever  of  these  departments  of  the  sacred 
revelations  we  look  ;  whether  we  search  the  Scrip- 
tures, for  the  law"  by  which  God  acts,  or  for  the  law, 
by  which  he  requires  men  to  be  governed  in  obedi- 
ence to  him,  our  conclusion  will  be  the  same.  The 
more  we  investigate  the  oracles  of  God  for  these 
principles  of  divine  excellence,  the  more  entirely 
shall  we  be  able  to  appreciate,  how  perfect  is  the 
law  of  the  Lord. 

The  principles  of  the  law  by  which  the  divine 
government  is  regulated,  are  so  distinct  and  intel- 
ligible in  the  Scriptures,  and  appear  so  beautiful  and 
excellent  to  the  mind  which  delights  to  retain  God 
in  its  knowledge,  that  the  practical  operations  of  his 
providence  become  no  mystery  to  those  who  study 

9* 


202  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.       [lECT.    XII. 

their  meaning  in  the  Bible.  There,  God  shines  forth, 
controlling  power  by  wisdom,  directing  it  in  love, 
and  maintaining  its  purposes,  with  unalterable  faith- 
fulness and  truth.  Each  attribute  expands  to  a 
boundless  extent,  and  yet  each  harmonizes  with  all 
the  others,  in  sweet  and  peaceful  subserviency,  for 
the  attainment  of  the  glorious  result  which  is  pro- 
posed. All  are  engaged  in  bringing  the  highest 
glory  to  the  character  of  God,  and  supreme  and  uni- 
versal happiness  to  his  creation.  All  are  working 
together,  to  lead  up  from  a  fallen  world  to  glory, 
many  sons  of  God  under  the  Captain  of  their  salva- 
tion ;  guiding  them  through  ways  that  they  know 
not,  and  by  paths  that  they  have  not  known ;  yet 
always  making  darkness  light,  and  crooked  things 
straight ;  causing  all  things  to  work  together  for  their 
good ;  making  chastenings,  however  grievous,  to 
bring  forth  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness ; 
and  keeping  them  by  ''  the  power  of  God,  through 
faith,  unto  a  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed"  in  the 
fulness  of  its  glory,  when  they  have  been  "  strength- 
ened, settled,  and  stablished,"  according  to  the  di- 
vine will ;  designing  from  them,  and  in  them,  to  ex- 
hibit in  the  highest  degree,  the  glory  and  majesty  of 
God.  Such  is  a  revelation  in  the  Scriptures  of  the 
principles  upon  w^iich  the  divine  administration  of 
the  law  of  God  is  founded,  and  by  which  it  is  con- 
trolled. No  man  whose  heart  is  touched  w4th  a  love 
of  rectitude  and  virtue,  and  whose  mind  is  attuned 
to  their  direction,  can  fail  to  gain  higher  conceptions 
of  the  character  of  God  as  he  studies  it  in  the  Bible. 
Infidelity  hangs,  always  and  only,  as  an  attendant 
either  upon  ignorance,  or  upon  vice.  However  man 
may  have  misinterpreted  the  designs  of  providence 


LECT.  XII.]        PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.  203 

in  his  partial  vision,  here  man  finds  that  they  are 
arrayed  upon  a  system  of  inconceivable  excellence, 
and  that  the  law  of  the  Lord  which  regulates  them, 
is  perfect. 

The  holy  principles  by  which  God  requires  men 
to  be  governed,  are  laid  down  in  the  Scriptures  with 
equal  precision.  There,  is  a  whole  and  perfect  sys- 
tem of  human  character  and  conduct ;  a  system 
which  human  reason  and  conscience  are  compelled 
to  acknowledge,  displays  wisdom  and  purity  in  their 
highest  degree  of  excellence.  The  Lord  sets  out 
his  own  character  as  the  example.  The  funda- 
mental principle  and  precept  for  men,  is,  "Be  ye 
imitators  of  God  as  dear  children  ;" — ''  Be  ye  per- 
fect, as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect ;"  "  Be  ye 
holy,  for  God  is  holy."  This  is  the  great  standard 
of  character  which  shines  in  the  Bible,  as  the  noon- 
day sun  in  the  firmament,  majestic,  distinct,  su- 
preme, beyond  all  room  for  mistake.  In  the  setting 
up  of  this  perfect  standard,  Go  J  proclaims  what  he 
wishes  man  to  be.  But  that  man  may  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  understanding  this  great  demand,  he  has 
laid  it  out,  divided  into  the  simplest  and  clearest 
rules,  each  taking  some  one  of  these  divine  prin- 
ciples, as  the  substance  of  a  distinct  command,  and 
spreading  it  out  before  the  view  of  man,  in  terms 
which  cannot  be  misapprehended  by  him.  These 
rules  of  conduct  which  God  has  given,  we  are  ac- 
customed more  particularly  to  call  the  divine  law. 
They  are  scattered  throughout  the  Scriptures  in 
distinct  precepts.  They  are  exhibited  in  practical 
instances  of  the  obedience  and  disobedience  of  par- 
ticular men.  They  are  illustrated,  explained,  and 
enforced,  in  a  vast  variety  of  method  and  instrue- 


204  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.        [lECT.  XII. 

tion.  But  they  all  resolve  themselves  into  the  prin- 
ciples by  which  God  would  have  man  to  be  gov- 
erned ;  which  are  none  other,  than  the  principles, 
by  which  in  their  perfection,  he  is  governed  himself. 
This  is  the  law  of  the  Lord,  as  it  is  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures.  And  how  unspeakably  perfect  is  it  as 
a  system  of  control !  With  what  unrivalled  excel- 
lence, does  this  standard,  thus  drawn  out  into  its 
beautiful  and  harmonious  principles,  shine  forth  be- 
fore the  view  of  intelligent  and  enlightened  men ! 
Man  in  conformity  to  this  standard,  would  be  a  per- 
fect and  spotless  being.  In  this  conformity  he  was 
made  originally.  To  the  recovery  of  this  conformity, 
elect  man  is  destined  in  the  work  of  grace  which 
has  rescued  and  restored  him  from  his  fall,  by  the 
power  and  obedience  of  a  Redeemer  mighty  to  save. 
The  high  elevation  of  his  being,  and  the  glorious 
exalting  of  liis  character,  when  God  has  finished 
with  him,  his  perfect  work,  and  his  mortality  is 
swallowed  of  life,  will  be  the  attainment  and  ever- 
lasting possession,  of  this  perfect  conformity  to  the 
principles  of  the  divine  law,  as  they  are  record- 
ed in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Here  is  the  crown  of 
man's  recovery — and  here  are  exibited,  the  practical 
worth  of  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  en- 
nobling influence  of  that  character  which  it  offers  to 
the  acceptance  of  man,  and  in  which  it  promises  to 
secure  him  forever. 

How  excellent,  how  honourable,  is  true  piety, — 
the  real  devotion  of  the  heart  to  God, — the  fruit  of 
the  renewed  mind, — the  cheerful,  happy  conformity 
of  the  soul  to  the  blessed  invitations  of  the  Gospel, 
and  to  the  holy  principles  of  the  law  which  it  fulfils 
and  confirms.     It  is  the  employment  of  man's  high- 


LECT.  XII.]        PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.  205 

est  powers  of  intellect  and  affection,  for  the  attain- 
ment of  the  highest  possible  purpose,  a  harmony  of 
the  soul  with  the  principles  of  that  law  of  the  Lord 
which  is  perfect.  It  is  the  setting  up  of  the  char- 
acter and  government  of  heaven,  in  man  while  he  is 
upon  the  earth,  and  giving  him  here,  the  commence- 
ment of  an  everlasting  delight  in  the  perfect  holiness 
and  excellence  of  the  law  of  the  Lord. 

III.  "  The  law^  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,"  in  its  con- 
summation^  as  it  is  revealed  in  the  obedience  ^d 
sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  God  describes 
this  wonderful  incarnation  and  death  of  his  only  be- 
gotten Son,  as  affixing  peculiar  honour  to  his  law. 
"The  Lord  is  well  pleased,  for  his  righteousness 
sake ;  he  w^ill  magnify  the  law  and  make  it  honour- 
able." The  whole  work  of  the  Divine  Redeemer 
had  reference  to  the  claims  and  character  of  this 
perfect  law^ ;  and  it  is  to  be  understood  and  esti- 
mated only  as  we  comprehend  the  nature  and  ex- 
tent of  these  claims  upon  man.  It  was  to  redeem 
man  from  the  power  of  the  law  which  he  had  vio- 
lated, and  under  the  necessary  curse  and  condemna- 
tion of  which  he  was  held  in  bondage  ;  and  to  bring 
in  an  everlasting  righteousness  for  him,  that  he 
might  be  justified  freely  by  the  grace  of  God  con- 
sistently with  the  honour  and  faithfulness  of  this 
perfect  law,  that  God  sent  forth  his  Son  to  be  made 
of  a  woman,  and  made  under  the  law.  And  by  this 
one  subjection  and  offering  of  himself,  the  Saviour 
hath  fulfilled  the  law,  merited  its  rewards,  and  per- 
fected forever  them  that  are  sanctified  in  him.  In 
every  aspect  of  the  law  of  God  as  it  is  related  to 
man,  the  Lord  Jesus  is  its  consummation  and  fulfil- 


206  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.        [lECT.  XII. 

ment.  And  it  appears  yet  more  perfect  and  glori- 
ous, as  it  is  beheld  completed  and  honoured  by  him. 
Jesus  is  the  consummation  of  the  law  as  it  is 
viewed  in  its  active  operation  in  the  divine  provi- 
dence,— as  the  rule  of  the  divine  government.  This 
work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  declared  to  be  the  great 
end,  to  which  all  previous  divine  arrangements 
tended,  and  in  subservience  to  which  they  were 
made.  The  continued  history  of  the  world,  and  of 
God's  government  over  it  from  the  hour  of  its  crea- 
tion, has  exhibited  but  the  preparation  which  God 
has  been  pleased  to  make,  for  the  attainment  of  this 
great  result  in  the  fulness  of  the  appointed  time. 
This  final  work,  the  interposition  of  the  Son  of  God 
for  man,  the  Apostle  affirms  to  be  the  key  to  the 
whole  previous  mystery  of  the  divine  will.  ''  Hav- 
ing made  known  unto  us  the  mystery  of  his  will, 
according  to  his  good  pleasure  which  he  hath  pur- 
posed in  himself,  that  in  the  dispensation  of  the  ful- 
ness of  times  he  might  gather  together  in  one,  all 
things  in  Christ."  Here  is  the  concentrating  point 
of  all  the  divine  dispensations.  Everything  in  the 
providence  of  God,  whether  in  the  affairs  of  a  world, 
or  of  individual  men  who  are  subjects  of  the  Gospel, 
meets  and  is  explained  at  the  cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  Apostle  carries  us  also,  far  beyond  the 
past  offering  of  Jesus,  to  shew  that  the  future  con- 
summation of  the  Gt)spel  dispensation  in  its  final 
and  glorious  result,  will  be  the  issue,  in  which  the 
whole  train  of  previous  appointments  shall  be  found 
to  have  gained  tlijeir  fulfilment,  and  their  explana- 
tion. "  Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have 
delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father, 
when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  au- 


LECT.  XII.]        PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.  207 

thority  and  power ;  for  he  must  reign  till  he  hath 
put  all  enemies  under  his  feet."  And  will  not  this 
glorious  result,  which  explains  the  whole  mystery 
of  divine  government,  and  shews  the  great  and  glo- 
rious end  of  God's  appointment,  towards  which  all 
its  arrangements  have  tended  for  ages  and  genera- 
tions, magnify  this  law  and  make  it  honourable? 
Will  not  the  will  and  appointments  of  God,  seem  in 
the  highest  degree,  wise  and  benevolent,  and  faith- 
ful, as  their  results  are  beheld,  in  the  everlasting 
joys  of  those  ransomed  multitudes,  whom  God  hath 
thus  delivered  from  condemnation,  and  made  par- 
takers of  his  glory  ?  Surely,  when  we  there  know 
as  we  are  known  ;  when  we  witness  this  wonderful 
issue  of  divine  providence ;  when  we  behold  thus 
displayed,  the  final  and  everlasting  triumphs  af  the 
Son  of  God,  we  shall  be  ready  to  exclaim  in  this 
view  of  the  consummation  of  the  law  of  God's  gra- 
cious providence  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "  the  law 
of  the  Lord  is  perfect."  How  exalted  will  appear 
the  plan  which  has  led  to  such  a  result,  and  the  re- 
sult which  has  followed  upon  such  a  plan  !  Heaven 
inhabited,  the  earth  redeemed,  the  whole  family  of 
God  perfected  in  holiness,  God,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  forever  glorified  and  honoured, — 
as  the  great  point  to  which  all  divine  dispensations 
have  been  directed  in  every  age, — and  which  in  per- 
fect glory  and  with  perfect  success,  they  have  been 
sufficient  to  accomplish  !  And  what  honour  will  be 
given  to  the  law,  when  it  shall  be  seen,  not  only 
that  it  has  been  the  chosen  rule  of  God's  own  guid- 
ance,— but  that  it  has  guided  too  to  the  attainment 
of  such  wonderful  results ! 

But  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  also  the  consumma- 


208  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.       [lECT.  XII. 

tion  of  the  law,  as  it  is  viewed  in  its  principles,  as 
recorded  in  the  Scriptures.  In  the  wonderful  scheme 
of  grace  which  is  revealed  in  the  Gospel,  and  of 
which  the  Saviour  is  the  great  centre  and  sun,  all 
the  demands  and  claims  of  this  holy,  just,  and  good 
law,  are  perfectly  answered  and  honoured ;  and  no 
exhibition  of  the  law  could  so  display  its  perfection, 
and  unfold  its  beauty,  to  a  mind  intelligent  upon  this 
subject,  as  do  the  character  and  work  of  that  glori- 
ous Mediator,  who  was  made  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  his  people.  He  has  presented  the 
highest  possible  pattern  and  example  of  obedience 
to  its  precepts.  The  holiness  of  his  character  was 
without  a  stain  or  defect.  His  conformity  to  divine 
commands  was  perfect  and  undefiled.  This  obedi- 
ence on  his  part  was  entirely  voluntary,  and  accom- 
plished for  the  covenanted  purpose  of  justifying 
many,  by  its  offering  in  their  behalf  It  thus  pre- 
sented a  righteousness  for  them,  infinite  in  its  worth 
from  the  infinite  excellence  and  dignity  of  his  own 
nature,  and  infinitely  glorious  to  the  law  to  which 
it  was  rendered,  and  to  the  government  to  which  it 
thus  acknowledged  subjection.  Here  was  the  high- 
est possible  honour  given  to  the  holiness  of  the  law, 
— when  "  God  over  all,  blessed  forever,''  became 
himself  subjected  to  it,  and  in  this  voluntary  subjec- 
tion, completely  fulfilled  it.  Beyond  this  obedience, 
even  the  law  to  which  he  was  voluntarily  subjected, 
had  no  claims  upon  him.  But  he  still  farther  be- 
came its  consummation,  by  assuming  upon  himself, 
as  the  substitute  and  ransom  for  man,  the  penalty 
of  his  condemnation,  and  dying  an  accursed  death, 
under  the  guilt  of  man  assumed  by  him,  and  the 
curse  which  man  deserved.     He  thus  gave  also  the 


LECT.    XII.]       PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.  209 

highest  honour  to  the  majesty  of  the  law,  by  con- 
descending himself  to  become  the  unresisting  victim 
of  its  power,  and  by  acknowledging  in  his  own  suf- 
ferings and  death,  the  justice  of  its  claims,  and  the 
rightfulness  of  its  authority.  He  thus  fulfilled  it,  in 
every  possible  aspect  of  its  claims,  offering  an  obedi- 
ence which  must  eternally  magnify  its  purity,  and  a 
suffering  which  must  honour  its  power  forever. 
When  we  view  this  fulfilment  of  the  law  of  God,  as 
exhibited  in  the  obedience  and  death  of  the  divine 
Redeemer,  we  are  able  to  say  in  the  highest  sense 
of  the  expression,  and  in  the  highest  perception  of 
its  truth,  "  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect."  It  was 
perfect  before  as  the  rule  of  the  divine  government 
and  in  the  principles  and  precepts  which  it  recorded 
for  man.  But  it  had  never  been  perfected  by  man's 
obedience,  nor  could  it  be  thus  honoured  by  the  obe- 
dience of  fallen  man  for  himself  But  now  that  God's 
own  Son  has  taken  upon  him  our  nature,  that  he 
might  be  the  "  end,"  literally,  ''  the  perfection  of  the 
law  for  righteousness  to  those  who  believe," — we 
are  able  to  say  in  the  sense  of  man's  obedience,  as 
well  as  in  reference  to  all  the  preceding  particulars 
which  we  have  considered,  *'  the  law  of  the  Lord  is 
perfect."  All  that  the  providence  of  God  in  the  rev- 
elations of  his  government  designed,  has  been  effect- 
ed in  the  glorious  exhibition  of  Jesus  in  his  work. 
Many  sons  are  brought  to  glory  through  the  power 
and  merits  of  the  captain  of  their  salvation,  who  has 
been  perfected  in  sufferings.  And  all  that  the  com- 
mands of  God  required  of  men,  has  been  accom- 
plished by  him  who  thus  became  a  man  for  them;  so 
that  in  Christ  Jesus  as  their  representative  and  right- 
eousness, men  sinful  in  themselves,  are  presented 


210  PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE    LAW.       [lECT.  XII. 

unto  God,  "  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory, 
with  exceeding  joy."  And  redeemed  sinners,  clothed 
with  his  obedience  and  triumphant  in  his  death,  may 
sing  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  through- 
out eternity,  in  every  possible  sense  of  the  expres- 
sion, "  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect." 

IV.  I  cannot  imagine  a  theme  more  replete  with 
joy  and  encouragement  to  a  Christian  heart,  or  more 
gratifying  and  improving  to  a  sanctified  mind,  than 
the  extensive  one  which  we  have  now  considered. 
How  delightful  is  it  to  be,  and  to  know  that  we  are, 
under  the  uniform  direction  of  the  highest  perfection 
of  wisdom,  faithfulness  and  love ;  to  have  the  evi- 
dence and  the  promise  that  we  are,  and  shall  be, 
partakers  of  a  scheme  of  grace,  whose  benefits  are 
sure  and  everlasting,  in  whose  provisions  every 
claim  is  satisfied,  and  every  want  is  supplied.  How 
transporting  is  it,  to  take  this  clear  view  of  the  divine 
excellency,  to  contemplate  the  reality  and  extent  of 
all  these  perfections ;  and  then  to  feel  sure  that  we 
have  an  abiding  interest  in  a  Being  whose  glories 
are  so  unsearchable.  "  This  God  is  our  God ;"  "  God 
even  our  own  God  shall  give  us  his  blessing."  This 
is  the  blessed  privilege  which  this  subject  presents 
to  our  view,  exciting  us  to  the  highest  efforts  of  obe- 
dience ;  leading  us  to  the  cultivation  and  mainte- 
nance of  a  spiritual  mind ;  enabling  us  to  follow  after 
that  holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord  ;  giving  us  that  pure  and  happy  spirit  of  love 
for  the  will  and  character  of  God,  in  which  the 
Psalmist  so  emphatically  says,  "  O,  how  I  love  thy 
law,  it  is  better  to  me  than  thousands  of  gold  and 
silver :  how  sweet  are  thy  words  unto  my  taste,  yea 
sweeter  than  honey  to  my  mouth  !"     What  can  there 


LECT.  XII.]       PERFECTION    OF    THE    DIVINE   LAW.  211 

be  in  the  study  and  investigation  of  such  a  subject^ 
which  is  not  attractive  and  transforming  in  its  influ- 
ence, when  the  heart  is  attuned  again  to  love  the 
purity  which  it  here  sees  in  God, — and  the  soul  is 
able  to  rejoice  in  the  perfect  removal  of  all  its  fears 
and  dangers  under  the  judgment  of  this  holiness,  by 
the  all-sufiicient  mediation  of  the  anointed  Saviour? 
O,  that  we  may  be  taught,  to  estimate  this  divine 
knowledge  according  to  its  worth ;  to  contemplate 
the  revelations  of  God  which  it  makes,  with  delight ; 
and  to  seek  to  be  ourselves  transformed  into  the 
same  image,  from  glory  to  glory,  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord ! 

And  while  this  subject  is  thus  animating  to  the 
Christian  heart,  how  inviting  and  encouraging  is  it 
to  those  who  have  hitherto  neglected  God  !  Though 
the  holiness  of  the  law  condemns,  and  the  more  its 
excellence  is  understood,  the  more  its  condemning 
power  is  felt,  yet  the  merits  of  the  law-fulfiller,  the 
great  surety  for  the  sinner,  are  seen  to  be  all-suffi- 
cient. In  him  God  the  Father  is  well  pleased,  and 
equally  well  pleased  with  all  who  are  in  him,  seek- 
ing their  shelter  by  faith  in  his  merits,  and  resting 
upon  his  righteousness  and  power.  In  him  is  life ; 
life  for  all  who  come  to  him.  But  in  what  way  can 
your  guilt  be  pardoned,  your  natures  be  sanctified, 
your  souls  be  accepted  with  God,  and  your  con- 
dition be  made  secure  with  him,  but  by  casting  in 
your  lot,  with  thankful  faith  and  humble  penitence, 
with  that  Blessed  Lord  who  has  fulfilled  all  right- 
eousness for  you,  and  offers  himself  with  every  at- 
tendant blessing  freely  and  everlastingly  to  your  ac- 
ceptance 1  llow  miserable  is  the  sinner's  condition 
who  perishes  in  the  midst  of  such  offered  mercies ; 


212         PERFECTION  OF  THE  DIVINE  LAW.   [lECT.  XII. 

shipwrecked  at  noonday,  off  the  very  haven  that 
offered  him  security  and  rest,  by  his  own  head- 
strong confidence  in  his  own  wisdom,  and  his  per- 
verse rejection  of  an  adequate  and  offered  guide ! 
Let  not  this  be  your  condition.  Means  of  light  and 
knowledge  are  everywhere  around  you.  God  the 
Saviour  fulfilling  all  righteousness,  stands  ready  to 
save  and  bless  you.  The  perfect  law  accomplished 
and  honoured  in  him,  directs  you  to  his  pardoning 
and  justifying  grace,  and  thus  becomes  his  instru- 
ment for  converting  the  soul.  The  Spirit  of  God 
with  it  as  his  sword,  dividing  asunder,  and  discern- 
ing the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart,  wounds 
indeed  but  only  that  he  may  heal,  and  cuts  off  on 
every  side,  but  only  that  he  may  cast  away  that 
which  is  unprofitable  and  vain.  With  all  these 
privileges  in  your  possession,  what  can  increase  the 
kindness  and  confidence  with  which  you  are  invited 
to  cast  in  your  lot  with  the  people  of  God,  and  to 
partake  of  the  security  which  is  provided  for  them  ? 
Improve  these  advantages  while  you  may,  and  seek 
and  find  and  enjoy  a  free  access  unto  mm  who  hath 
said,  "  whosoever  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out." 


LECTURES  ON  THE  GOSPEL. 


LECTURE   I. 

THE  OBJECT  OP  THE  GOSPEL. 

The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost. — St.  Luke, 
XIX.  10. 

The  Son  of  Man  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  By 
this  appellation,  he  is  described  in  his  voluntary 
humiliation  for  man's  redemption.  In  his  own  eter- 
nal nature,  he  was  "  the  Son  of  God,"  "  the  only  be- 
gotten of  the  Father,"  "  the  brightness  of  the  Fa- 
ther's glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person." 
But  though  ''  in  the  form  of  God,"  "  equal  with 
God,"  "  the  fellow  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  he  "  took 
upon  himself,  the  likeness  of  man,"  and  "  the  form 
of  a  servant ;"  "  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh," 
and  thus  became  "  the  Son  of  Man,"  "  made  of  a 
woman,  made  under  the  law,  that  he  might  redeem 
them  that  are  under  the  law,  that  we  might  receive 
the  adoption  of  sons." 

When  this  wonderful  event,  the  incarnation  of  the 
Son  of  God,  was  accomplished,  he  came^  in  the  ex- 
pression of  the  text  before  us,  from  God  to  man, 
from  heaven  to  earth,  from  the  most  exalted  per- 
sonal glory,  to  the  deepest  personal  humiliation  and 
distress, — from  the  possession  of  perfect  bliss,  to  lay 


214  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.       [lECT.  I. 

down  his  life  a  sacrifice  for  sin, — to  give  himself,  the 
just  for  the  unjust,  a  ransom  for  his  own  rebellious 
creatures.  The  Father  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but 
freely  delivered  him  up  for  guilty  man.  The  Son 
came  in  a  body  which  was  prepared  for  him,  con- 
tent to  do  the  Father's  will.  The  Holy  Ghost 
formed  him  in  his  human  nature,  his  tabernacle  of 
flesh ; — and  he  thus  became  a  man,  a  man  of  sor- 
rows and  acquainted  with  grief;  and  as  the  Captain 
of  Salvation  to  the  sons  of  Grod,  he  was  made  per- 
fect through  sufferings. 

This  coming  of  the  Son  of  God  to  be  the  Son  of 
Man,  that  he  might  effectually  seek  and  save  that 
which  was  lost,  is  the  whole  subject  of  the  (rospel. 
The  Sacred  Scriptures  of  God  announce  glad  tidings 
of  good  things  to  perishing  men,  because  they  fully 
proclaim  and  exhibit  this  one  great  fact,  that  "  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners," — that 
the  Son  of  God  hath  come,  to  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself.  The  word  Gospel  means  glad 
tidings.  The  glad  tidings  are  ;  that  there  has  been 
provided  an  all-sufficient  and  glorious  Redeemer  for 
guilty  man,  upon  whom  God  hath  laid  the  iniquity 
of  us  all ;  who  has  become  a  propitiation  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him,  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 

This  is  the  glorious  intelligence  of  the  Gospel. 
The  Son  of  Man  has  come.  He  has  borne  the  sin- 
ner's burden.  He  has  made  an  end  of  sin  for  those 
who  believe  in  him.  He  has  brought  in  an  ever- 
lasting righteousness  as  the  gift  of  God  to  all  who 
will  receive  it.  Having  done  this,  the  Gospel  which 
he  commands  his  ministers  to  preach,  is  simply  the 
intelligence  of  this  grand  fact.     The  sum  and  sub- 


LECT.    I.]  THE    OBJECT    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  216 

stance  of  all  that  we  announce  to  man  in  the  name 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  that  God  "  hath  made 
him  sin  for  us,  when  he  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  Being 
thus  reconciled  to  us,  and  in  this  one  offering  for  sin 
displaying  this  reconciliation,  he  calls  upon  us  in 
the  annunciation  of  the  fact,  to  be  reconciled  to  him, 
and  not  to  receive  the  grace  of  God  in  vain. 

The  text  before  us  displays  in  simple  terms,  tlie 
object  and  purpose  of  the  Gospel^  the  design  for  which 
the  Son  of  God  came  into  the  world,  and  to  accom- 
plish which  he  consented  to  be  numbered  with  trans- 
gressors. '^  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  is  lost."  The  mission  of  the  Son 
of  God,  constitutes  the  subject  of  the  Gospel,  and 
the  design  of  that  mission,  is  to  save  the  lost.  In 
discussing  the  important  subject  which  is  thus  pre- 
sented, we  may  consider, 

I.  The  condition  in  which  the  Gospel  finds  man- 
kind. 

II.  The  means  which  it  proclaims,  for  their  de- 
liv^erance. 

I.  Consider  the  condition  in  which  the  Gospel  finds 
tlie  whole'  race  of  men.  It  is  here  displayed  by  a 
single  word.  They  are  "  /os^."  And  its  single  object 
with  them,  is  "  to  seek  and  to  save"  them.  I  shall 
not  stay  to  demonstrate  the  fact,  that  man  is  lost, — 
that  he  is  neither  in  the  condition,  nor  possessing 
tlie  character,  in  which  he  was  at  first  created. 
God  made  man  upright.  Sin  against  God  is  man's 
own  invention.  I  must  consider  the  fact  of  man's 
fallen  state  established  in  itself;  and  would  labour 
to  impress  upon  your  minds,  a  clear  understanding 
and  conviction  of  its  extent.    A  thorough  perception 


216  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.       [lECT.  I. 

of  your  need  as  guilty  creatures,  lies  at  the  very  root 
of  all  attempts  to  understand  and  gain  the  remedy 
which  God  has  mercifully  provided.  To  acquire 
this,  must  be  our  present  purpose.  Man  will  never 
accept  the  offers  of  the  Gospel,  until  he  is  clearly 
and  thoroughly  convinced  of  his  guilt  and  ruin. 

1.  The  Gospel  finds  you  lost  under  a  burden  of 
inconceivable  guilt.  Every  precept  of  the  divine  law 
testifies  against  you.  There  is  not  a  duty  required 
of  you,  which  has  not  been  left  undone.  There  is 
not  a  transgression  prohibited,  with  which  in  the 
sinful  thoughts  and  purposes  of  your  hearts,  if  not 
in  outward  act  and  deed,  you  have  not  been  stained. 
You  were  born  in  sin ;  and  from  your  birth  you  have 
gone  astray.  One  transgression  would  have  exposed 
you  to  everlasting  banishment  from  God  ;  and  your 
iniquities  have  been  multiplied  as  the  sand  of  the  sea 
shore.  Every  hour  of  your  life,  because  spent  in  re- 
bellion against  God,  is  a  record  of  condemnation 
against  you  ;  nor  has  tliere  been  a  single  hour  which, 
if  you  were  tried  by  it,  would  not  sink  you  into  un- 
utterable despair.  Your  guilt  in  the  sight  of  God, 
is  therefore  inconceivable  by  you.  Until  you  have 
written  down  every  sinful  purpose  and  feeling  of 
your  lives, — and  taken  the  amount  of  condemnation 
which  the  aggregate  of  these  sinful  purposes  has 
necessarily  brought  upon  you,  you  can  have  at- 
tained no  just  measure  of  your  guilt.  It  is  high  as 
heaven ;  what  can  you  know?  It  is  deep  as  hell; 
what  can  you  do  7  It  is  utterly  beyond  the  compass 
of  your  minds,  to  calculate,  or  comprehend,  the  ex- 
tent of  actual  guilt  which  lies  upon  every  soul  to 
whom  the  Gospel  brings  its  intelligence  and  offer  of 
salvation.     It  is  a  load,  which  the  arm  of  Omnipo- 


LECT.  I.]        THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  217 

tence  alone  can  heave  off  from  any  sinner ;  and  the 
Gospel  as  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  an- 
nouncing that  this  guilt  has  been  borne  by  one 
mighty  to  save,  comes  to  seek  and  to  save,  those 
who  are  lost  beneath  its  weight. 

2.  The  Gospel  finds  you  lost  in  a  state  of  extreme 
personal  corruption  and  unholiness.  The  depravity 
of  your  fallen  nature  is  exceeding  great,  and  its  in- 
fluence extends  to  every  power  of  your  minds,  and 
to  every  affection  of  your  hearts.  It  is  vain  to  dis- 
pute about  the  words  total  depravity,  which  are  so 
often  used  to  express  this  aspect  of  man's  natural 
state.  The  assertion  simply  is,  that  there  is  nothing 
in  you  by  nature,  which  is  not  sinful,  "  the  heart  of 
*  the  sons  of  men  is  full  of  evil."  Their  understand- 
ings are  darkened  ;  their  will  is  perverse  ;  their  af- 
fections are  earthly  and  sensual ;  their  conscience  is 
partial ;  their  memory  w411  not  retain  heavenly 
truths;  their  bodies  are  under  the  influence  of  a 
depraved  mind  ;  and  every  member,  instead  of  being 
an  instrument  of  holiness,  is  a  willing  servant  to  sin. 
From  the  head  to  the  foot,  there  is  no  soundness  or 
spiritual  health  in  the  unrenew^ed  or  natural  man. 
In  your  whole  character,  and  through  your  whole 
lives,  in  this  condition  there  is  no  good  thing.  If 
your  everlasting  salvation  were  made  contingent 
upon  the  simple  condition  of  your  finding  one  thought 
or  desire  in  the  whole  compass  of  your  past  days, 
which  was  not  stained  with  sin,  you  w^ould  be  for- 
ever shut  out  from  hope.  There  is  none  of  you  who 
hath  done  good, — no,  not  one.  That  there  may  be 
depravity  beyond  yours  in  degree,  none  will  attempt 
to  deny.  But  that  there  is  anything  in  your  fallen 
nature  which  is  not  depraved,  the  word  of  God  de- 

10 


218  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.       [lECT.  I. 

nies  most  solemnly  and  repeatedly.  And  the  Gos- 
pel finds  you  lost  in  this  extreme  state  of  personal 
unholiness,  when  it  comes  to  seek  and  to  save  you. 

3.  The  Gospel  finds  you  lost  in  a  state  of  enmity 
to  God.  The  natural  mind  of  every  man  is  enmity 
against  God,  and  will  not  be  subject  to  his  will.  In 
some  persons,  it  may  break  forth  into  more  open 
acts  of  hostility  than  in  others.  But  it  is  not  less 
really  enmity  to  God,  when  it  is  cloaked  with  a  fair 
exterior,  or  shut  up  and  concealed  under  false  pro- 
fessions of  friendship.  There  is  a  direct  and  positive 
hostility  and  opposition  between  the  mind  of  God, 
and  the  mind  of  every  unconverted  sinner.  They 
pursue  opposite  and  wholly  inconsistent  ends.  While 
the  one  is  gathering,  the  other  is  labouring  to  scatter 
abroad.  Many  persons  may  be  wholly  unconscious 
of  any  distinct  purposes  of  opposition  to  the  will  of 
God,  and  they  may  deny  that  they  have  such.  The 
simple  reason  is,  they  do  not  stop  to  consider  what 
the  will  of  God  is ;  or  they  have  formed  such  er- 
roneous views  of  his  character,  that  they  have  no 
hostility  to  a  being  whom  they  have  made  altogether 
such  an  one  as  themselves.  To  a  God  of  perfect 
holiness,  a  God  who  cannot  abide  transgression, — a 
God  who  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty, — there 
is  not  an  unrenewed  man  upon  earth,  who  is  not  an 
enemy.  Your  whole  course  of  character  and  con- 
duct, in  an  unconverted  state,  is  operating  to  thwart 
the  divine  purposes  in  the  redemption  of  the  world ; 
to  cause  iniquity  to  abound,  when  he  would  make 
an  end  of  sin  ; — and  to  withhold  from  the  Lord  Jesus 
the  heart  which  he  would  bring  home  to  the  do- 
minion of  God,  reconciled  and  subdued.  By  these 
wicked  works,  you  prove  yourselves  the  enemies  of 


LECT.  I.]       THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  219 

Grod,  and  in  this  lost  condition,  the  Gospel  comes  to 
seek  and  to  save  you. 

4.  The  Gospel  finds  you  lost  in  a  state  of  utter  in- 
ability to  return  to  God,  or  to  restore  to  yourselves^  the 
divine  image  or  favour.  So  far  are  you  from  being 
able  to  recommend  yourselves  to  God,  that  every 
imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  your  heart  is  only 
evil  continually.  The  Spirit  of  God  alone  can  en- 
able you  to  will,  or  to  do,  anything  that  is  good. 
You  have  not  a  wish  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  until 
he  imparts  it.  Your  dispositions  and  affections  are 
so  entirely  averted  from  him,  and  you  love  darkness 
and  sin,  so  much  better  than  you  love  light  and  holi- 
ness, that  you  find  in  yourselves  no  native  desire  to 
be  brought  either  to  a  full  knowledge  of  yourselves, 
or  to  a  knowledge  of  God.  This  aversion  of  your 
minds  from  God  forms  an  utter  incapacity  in  your- 
selves, to  return  to  him.  And  were  there  no  other 
power  to  operate  for  the  conversion  of  your  souls, 
but  the  determining  power  of  your  own  wills,  Eze- 
kiel  might  prophesy  to  the  dry  bones,  with  as  much 
hope,  as  we  should  preach  the  Gospel  unto  you.  It 
is  even  more  entirely  beyond  your  power,  to  restore 
to  yourselves  the  divine  image  and  favour  which 
have  been  lost  by  your  sin.  This  is  a  path  which 
no  human  wisdom  hath  ever  trodden,  and  which  no 
mortal  eye  can  ever  discern.  And  except  as  the  re- 
sult of  God's  unsearchable  riches  of  grace,  all  pos- 
sibility of  reconciliation  to  him  would  cease  forever. 
So  far  as  it  regards  a  way  to  render  God  merciful 
to  the  sinner's  soul,  or  to  render  this  soul  inclined 
to  God,  though  the  wisdom  of  all  created  beings 
should  be  united,  to  decide  upon  the  method  which 
would  be  successful,  the  Gospel  finds  you  wholly 


220  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.        [lECT.  I. 

lost,  and  must  seek   you,  and  save  you,  as  beings 
whom  no  other  power  can  restore. 

This  is  the  condition  in  which  the  Gospel  finds 
you.  In  your  fallen  nature,  you  are  lost^  under  a 
load  of  intolerable  guilt, — in  an  extreme  degree  of 
personal  unholiness, — in  the  enmity  of  your  hearts 
to  God, — and  in  an  utter  inability  to  restore  your- 
selves to  the  divine  favour, — or  to  restore  the  image 
of  God  to  your  own  souls.  I  have  no  wish  to  over- 
state this  subject.  But  a  discernment  of  this  con- 
dition by  yourselves  is  indispensable.  Until  you  be- 
come acquainted  through  the  convincing  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  with  your  own  necessities,  it  is  vain 
to  direct  your  notice  to  the  gracious  provisions  which 
God  has  revealed  in  the  Gospel  for  your  rescue  and 
relief  Your  natural  condition  as  sinners  against 
God,  may  be  adequately  illustrated,  by  a  comparison 
of  it  with  the  actual  condition  of  fallen  angels.  They 
have  contracted  guilt,  and  are  unable  to  remove  it. 
They  have  lost  the  divine  image  in  which  they 
were  created,  and  are  unable  to  recover  it.  Having 
no  provision  of  grace  made  for  them,  they  are  left  in 
endless  and  irremediable  misery.  The  simple  dif- 
ference between  them  and  you  in  this  respect,  is  the 
difference  which  sovereign  grace  has  made ; — grace 
which  has  interposed  in  your  behalf,  and  not  in 
theirs,  because  "  God  hath  had  mercy  upon  whom 
he  would  have  mercy."  The  Son  of  God,  took  not 
upon  him  the  nature  of  angels,  nor  the  guilt  of 
angels, — but  he  took  upon  him,  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, and  made  himself  an  offering  for  their  sin. 
But  to  persuade  you  to  this  view  of  personal  guilt, 
is  the  great  difficulty  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  The 
pride  of  man  sternly  rebels  against  it.     But  until 


LECT.  I.]        THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  221 

you  do  thus  perceive  and  acknowledge  yourselves 
to  be  wholly  lost,  and  forever  lost,  so  far  as  any 
other  power  than  this  amazing  grace  of  God  is  con- 
sidered, we  can  never  hope  to  lead  you  to  Christ ; 
nor  will  you  be  persuaded  to  hear  of  a  Saviour  with 
thankfulness,  or  to  embrace  with  gladness  the  sal- 
vation which  he  has  provided  for  you. 

II.  Consider  the  means  for  this  salvation  ichich 
the  Gospel  proclaims.  The  Saviour's  object  is  a 
single  one.  "  The  Son  of  man  has  come  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  which  is  lost."  Every  other  pur- 
pose which  the  Gospel  accomplishes  in  reference  to 
man,  and  every  other  aspect  under  w^hich  the  Sav- 
iour is  presented  in  regard  to  man,  is  subordinate  to 
this.  As  a  teacher  of  morals,  a  revealer  of  wisdom, 
a  guide  in  life,  an  example  of  holiness,  the  character 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  comforting  and  honourable. 
But  all  these  offices  and  characteristics  are  merged 
in  that  one  glorious,  indispensable  character,  a  Sav- 
iour for  the  chief  of  sinners.  And  this  is  the  char- 
acter which  the  text  presents. 

The  first  object  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  was  to  seek  a 
world  that  was  lost ;  a  world  that  had  started  forth 
as  it  were,  from  its  proper  orbit  of  submission  to 
God,  and  had  wandered  off,  unknowing  and  un- 
known, in  regions  of  everlasting  darkness  and  de- 
spair. Like  the  shepherd,  whose  ninety  and  nine 
sheep  had  remained  under  his  protection,  w^hile  one 
only  had  gone  astray,  the  Saviour  left  the  innu- 
merable hosts  of  beings  who  still  owned  his  just  do- 
minion, and  came  to  look  for  this  one  poor  race  of 
creatures ;  that  in  the  wonderful  method  which  he 
had  devised,  he  might  save  them  from  destruction, 


222  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.        [lECT.  I. 

and  bring  them  back  to  acknowledge  and  delight  in 
the  holy  government  of  their  Creator. 

Having  visited  and  found  this  alienated  world,  his 
next  object  was  to  save  it ;  to  put  an  instant  stop  to 
the  course  of  condemnation  and  ruin  ;  to  arrest  the 
proceedings,  and  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  violated 
justice ;  and  to  subdue  the  purpose  of  rebellion 
which  actuated  the  heart  of  man.  In  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  purpose,  he  has  rendered  the  for- 
giveness of  man  consistent  with  the  character  and 
government  of  God,  and  has  provided  means  to  recon- 
cile the  alienated  heart  of  man  to  God,  from  whom  in 
this  rebellion  it  had  been  averted.  In  the  pursuit 
of  this  great  object  of  salvation,  the  Gospel  has  made 
every  provision,  which  the  lost  condition  of  the  soul 
of  man  demands.  It  offers  to  man's  acceptance,  a 
salvation  in  every  respect  honourable  to  God,  and 
adapted  to  his  utmost  wants. 

1.  For  the  inconceivable  guilt  which  presses  down 
your  souls  to  death,  the  Gospel  proclaims  a  sufficient 
substitute  and  surety  in  the  person  of  God's  own  dear 
Son,  a  divinely  appointed  Redeemer.  This  gracious 
Saviour  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all.  As  the  Son 
of  Man,  he  came  to  stand  in  the  sinner's  place.  He 
was  divinely  formed,  as  the  virgin's  son,  that  he 
might  partake  of  the  nature  of  man,  without  the  in- 
heritance of  his  unholiness  and  condemnation.  He 
was  the  subject  of  all  the  sinless  infirmities  of  our 
imperfect  nature,  but  he  was  free  from  its  corruption 
and  guilt.  He  was  a  victim  without  blemish  and 
without  spot.  Having  no  sins  in  himself  to  demand 
atonement,  he  was  able  to  make  himself  an  offering 
for  the  sins  of  others.  Being  infinite  in  majesty  and 
power,  the  offering  which  he  made,  was  adequate 


LECT.  I.]       THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  223 

to  the  need  which  required  it.  In  his  sacred  person, 
were  united  both  God  and  man.  And  having  hum- 
bled himself  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross, 
the  Father  laid  upon  him,  the  iniquities  of  us  all. 
For  you  he  suffered  as  a  sacrifice.  For  you  he  en- 
dured the  curse,  and  the  penalty  of  the  law,  which, 
if  required  of  you,  would  have  consigned  you  to 
eternal  woe.  For  you,  he  obeyed  its  holy  precepts, 
to  work  out  a  righteousness  which  should  be  im- 
puted unto  all,  and  put  upon  all,  who  believe.  He 
thus  became  perfectly  a  ransom  in  the  stead  of  you, 
voluntarily  bearing  your  guilt,  enduring  its  condem- 
nation and  curse,  and  accomplishing  your  title  unto 
life  eternal.  When  you  with  thankfulness,  person- 
ally accept  his  righteousness,  to  be  put  upon  you, 
this  work  of  the  Son  of  Man  for  each  of  you  will  be 
accomplished.  Your  sins  shall  be  remembered 
against  you  no  more  forever,  and  your  souls  shall 
find  eternal  peace  with  God.  This  great  offering 
of  the  Son  of  Man  has  completely  restored  the  re- 
lation of  peace  between  you  and  God,  so  far  as  the 
purposes  and  mind  of  God  are  concerned.  It  has 
rendered  God's  purposes  of  love  to  you,  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  holiness,  justice  and  faithfulness 
of  his  own  character.  It  has  met  the  denunciations 
of  the  offended  law.  It  has  satisfied  the  utmost 
claims  of  the  Divine  majesty.  It  has  done  every- 
thing which  was  necessary  to  save  you  from  your 
lost  and  ruined  state.  And  having  opened  a  perfect 
and  sufficient  way  of  rescue  for  you  from  the  ever- 
lasting punishment  of  sin,  and  a  full  and  glorious 
entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  it  offers  to  all  of 
you  its  abundant  means  of  spiritual  cleansing  and 
healing.     You  are  complete  in  him. 


224  THE    OBJECT     OF     THE     GOSPEL.  [lECT.    I. 

2.  For  the  unholiness  and  depravity  of  your  souls, 
— your  hostility  to  God,  and  your  inability  to  return 
to  him,  the  Gospel  proclaims  an  adequate  relief,  in 
the  influence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit^  the  third 
person  of  the  blessed  Trinity,  whom  the  Saviour 
sends  to  dwell  in  every  heart  that  will  receive  him, 
as  an  everlasting  comforter  and  guide.  It  is  his 
work  to  bring  back  your  affections  to  God,  and  to 
restore  to  you  the  image  of  divine  holiness.  He  de- 
livers you  from  your  native  enmity  to  God,  by  taking 
away  from  you,  the  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  and  giving 
to  you  a  cheerful  and  grateful  submission  to  the  will 
and  the  plans  of  God.  He  supplies  the  defects  of 
your  entire  incapacity  to  do  good,  by  renewing  you 
through  his  own  power,  and  leading  you  both  to 
will  and  to  do,  according  to  his  good  pleasure.  He 
reveals  the  Saviour's  excellence  and  attractions  to 
your  mind,  and  makes  you  to  love  and  to  desire  the 
things  of  Christ. 

Your  personal  inability  to  turn  to  God  and  live, 
though  it  be  the  direct  result  of  sin,  and  no  original 
weakness  of  your  unfallen  nature,  is  an  entire  ina- 
bility. You  are  wholly  destitute  of  a  desire  or  power 
to  prepare  yourselves  by  good  works  for  a  return  to 
God.  You  are  dead  in  your  sins.  In  this  state 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  comes  to  you,  to  bring  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  salvation.  He  quickens  you  by  his  di- 
vine power — that  power  which  raised  Christ  him- 
self from  the  grave.  He  shews  you  the  extent  of 
your  wants  and  dangers.  He  humbles  you  under  a 
consciousness  of  them.  He  stirs  you  up  to  cry  after 
God.  He  gives  you  a  godly  sorrow  for  sin.  He 
reveals  the  fulness  of  a  Saviour's  power,  and  the 
glory  of  his  finished  work,  to  your  view.     He  en- 


LECT.  I.]       THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  225 

ables  you  to  exercise  faith  in  him,  and  to  receive 
him  in  your  heart  as  your  hope  of  glory,  with  joyful 
confidence  in  all  the  offices  which  he  sustains  for 
you.  He  fills  you  with  love  to  Christ,  and  con- 
strains you  to  devote  yourselves  to  him.  He  gives 
you  ability  to  mortify  the  indwelling  power  of  sin, 
and  to  honour  the  Lord  whom  you  now  serve,  in  a 
holy  conversation.  He  transforms  you  more  and 
more  entirely  after  the  image  of  Christ,  and  renders 
you  meet  to  become  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of 
the  saints  in  light.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  thus  the  di- 
vine agent  in  applying  personally  to  your  souls,  the 
perfect  and  all-sufficient  redemption  which  the  Son 
of  God  has  wrought  out  for  you ;  and  thus  under 
the  gracious  provisions  of  the  Gospel,  you  have  ac- 
cess through  Jesus  Christ,  by  one  Spirit  unto  the 
Father. 

In  the  means  of  deliverance  which  the  Gospel 
thus  provides  for  you,  it  accomplishes  its  one  grand 
object,  "  to  seek  and  to  save,  that  which  is  lost." 
The  outward  difficulties  in  the  way  of  your  salva- 
tion the  Gospel  removes,  in  the  proclamation  of  God 
the  Son,  as  a  sacrifice  and  righteousness  for  you. 
The  inward  difficulties  arising  in  yourselves,  it 
equally  removes,  by  the  offer  of  God  the  Spirit,  as 
a  sanctifier  and  new  creator  of  your  souls.  When 
you  were  all  without  strength,  Christ  died  for  the 
ungodly,  and  thus  came  to  seek  and  to  save,  a  world 
which  was  lost.  While  you  are  individually  dead 
in  sins,  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  as  the  gift  of  Christ 
to  apply  to  your  souls,  the  work  which  he  has 
finished,  and  to  seek  and  to  save  you  personally, 
from  your  lost  estate.  These  are  the  means  of  de- 
liverance which  the  Gospel  provides  for  sinners  who 

10* 


226  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.       [lECT.  I. 

axe  lost.  They  are  perfectly  sufficient  for  the  end 
designed.  They  supply  every  possible  want.  They 
meet  every  possible  difficulty.  They  come  up  to 
the  utmost  extent  of  the  sinner's  need.  And  who- 
soever is  willing  to  receive  them,  finds  in  them,  a 
full  and  everlasting  salvation.  The  Gospel  thus  at- 
tains its  great  and  all-important  object.  It  proclaims 
the  perfect  righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  recon- 
ciling God  to  you.  It  offers  the  all-powerful  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  reconcile  you  to  God.  It 
announces  God  to  be  already  reconciled  in  his  Son. 
It  entreats  you  to  be  reconciled  to  him,  by  the  Spirit. 
It  is  thus  effectual  for  the  purpose  of  the  Son  of 
Man  "  to  seek,  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." 

III.  In  concluding  my  remarks  upon  this  impor- 
tant subject,  I  must  ask  you  to  examine  with  the 
utmost  fidelity,  how  far  this  object  has  been  attain- 
ed among  you. 

''  The  Son  of  Man  has  come  to  seek  and  to  save," 
this  whole  congregation  of  sinners,  pressing  forward 
to  the  judgment  seat  of  God.  Had  the  Gospel  pro- 
duced its  proper  effect,  there  would  not  be  in  this 
assembly  one  transgressor  still  alienated  from  God 
through  the  blindness  of  his  mind.  But  alas,  how 
far  are  we  from  this  result !  What  mean  the  num- 
ber of  slaves  to  the  world,  of  captives  to  Satan,  to 
whom  the  solemn  voice  of  the  Almighty  God  this 
day  comes  in  the  warnings  of  his  word  7  What 
mean  the  giddy  children  of  folly  and  mirth,  for  whom 
hell  has  opened  her  mouth,  and  still  enlarges  her- 
self without  measure  ?  Whence  the  swarm  of  in- 
fidel hearts  that  yet  lift  up  themselves  in  rebellion 
against  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth  ?  O,  how 
very  partially  has  the  great  object  of  the  Gospel 


LECT.  I.]      THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  227 

been  attained  among  you !  Could  I  go  from  soul 
to  soul  before  me,  and  see  the  mark  of  God's  infal- 
lible determination  of  character  rise  upon  your  fore- 
heads as  I  approached  each  ;  upon  what  numbers 
should  I  read  that  solemn  word,  lost,  lost  !  in 
many  cases,  perhaps,  beyond  the  reach  of  recovery ! 
And  what  would  be  the  probable  result — but,  that  the 
greater  portion  of  this  assembly  of  immortal  beings 
would  be  proclaimed,  to  be  still  under  the  wrath  of 
God,  and  without  hope  in  the  world  1  This  fact  is 
awful ;  is  it  a  fact  ?  Ami  now  addressing  hundreds 
who  are  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them,  and 
brtnging  upon  their  souls  a  swift  destruction  1  And 
are  you  careless  and  unconcerned  under  such  views 
of  your  character  and  condition  ?  Do  you  fee]  noth- 
ing 7  Have  you  no  desire  to  be  brought  back  to  the 
fold  of  Jesus  1  Have  you  no  wish  to  be  saved  in 
the  day  of  his  power?  Will  you  choose  as  your 
portion,  the  darkness  and  despair  in  which  unpar- 
doned sin  will  inevitably  involve  you  ?  I  would 
ask  you  honestly  and  affectionately,  will  you  deter- 
mine to  drive  the  Son  of  God  from  your  souls,  and 
lie  down  in  the  unbeliever's  everlasting  portion  ? 

I  would  speak  to  you,  as  a  poor  sinful  creature, 
with  humility  and  tenderness ;  but  I  would  speak  to 
you  also,  as  the  minister  of  God  to  you  for  good, 
with  authority  and  much  assurance ;  I  warn  the 
multitude  of  dying  and  yet  unconverted  sinners  to 
whom  I  speak,  that  they  cannot  escape  the  just 
judgment  of  God.  I  call  upon  you  in  the  name  of 
the  glorious  Redeemer,  who  desires  not  your  death, 
to  awake  from  the  ruinous  delusion  which  you  are 
playing  upon  your  own  hearts.  Lay  up  no  more 
sorrow  for  the  last  days.     Be  no  longer  infatuated 


228  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  GOSPEL.        [lECT.  I. 

with  the  false  promises  of  the  destroyer.  The  Son 
of  Man  has  sought  you.  O  shall  he  not  be  allowed 
to  save  you  and  bless  you  with  peace  ?  Everything 
is  waiting  the  result  of  your  own  determination ; 
heaven  and  hell  are  often  suspended  upon  a  mo- 
ment's choice :  and  this  day  you  either  go  back  with 
the  shepherd  to  the  fold,  or  you  bind  yourself  the 
more  irrevocably  to  the  power  of  the  destroyer. 

Poor  deluded  sinner,  lost !  O,  how  much  is 
meant  by  that  one  word  lost.  The  man  has  wan- 
dered from  his  home ;  the  shadows  of  the  evening 
are  stretched  out ;  the  coming  darkness  hurries  on 
despair.  Alone  in  a  wilderness,  wearied  with  anx- 
iety and  fatigue,  with  no  track  to  lead  him  to  his 
home,  no  prospect  of  repose  but  on  the  bosom  of  the 
desert,  no  shelter  for  the  night  but  the  chill  atmos- 
phere of  his  solitude,  with  what  feverish  delirium 
he  throws  himself  upon  the  earth.  Home,  children, 
friends,  comforts  and  joys,  all  crowd  into  his  bewil- 
dered mind.  But  these  are  gone.  He  shall  see 
them  no  more.  He  is  lost^  and  many  a  heart  is 
swelling  with  anguish  at  the  fear  that  he  is  lost  for- 
ever. No  sound  arrests  his  ear  but  the  desert's 
blast,  or  the  wild  beast's  roar ;  and  hope,  and  peace, 
and  reason  too,  have  taken  their  flight  from  his  dis- 
ordered mind. 

But  see,  a  messenger  of  kindness  comes  to  this 
lost  man  to  tell  him  of  a  path  to  his  home,  and  to 
lead  him  back  to  its  secure  repose.  He  wakes  him 
from  his  dream,  entreats  him  to  arise  and  go  with 
him,  assures  him  that  he  will  lead  him  in  safety  to 
his  own  abode,  and  with  a  thousand  words  of  sym- 
pathy and  love  intercedes  with  him  for  his  own  de- 
liverance.    But  reason  and  feeling  and  recollection 


LECT.  I.]       THE  OBJECT  OP  THE  GOSPEL.  229 

Jiave  gone,  and  though  he  is  lost,  he  refuses  to 
hearken  to  his  guide.  He  will  listen  for  a  moment 
to  his  kind  offer,  and  then  lie  down  in  the  madness 
of  despair,  finally  to  perish,  and  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
every  entreaty  and  remonstrance.  You  pity  the 
image  which  fancy  has  created,  but  you  are  bst^ 
and  will  not  pity  the  actual  miseries  of  your  own 
ruined,  deserted  souls,  nor  allow  the  Son  of  Man, 
this  messenger  of  mercy,  to  bring  you  back  to  his 
Father's  house  in  peace. 


LECTURE  II. 

THE  GOSPEL  WAY  OP  SALVATION. 

By  grace  ye  are  saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves :  it  is  the 
gift  of  God.— Ephesians,  ii,  8. 

The  great  object  of  the  Gospel  is  the  eternal  sal- 
vation of  man.  To  accomplish  this  object,  has  been 
the  design  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  all  that  he  has 
done  and  suffered  and  taught.  The  accomplish- 
ment of  this  great  purpose  is  all  that  man  requires. 
Let  the  sinner  be  saved^  and  he  may  be  happy  in 
the  possession  of  this  salvation,  though  he  be  poor, 
and  heavily  burdened  with  the  sorrows  of  the  pres- 
ent life.  Let  him  live  and  die  without  the  attain- 
ment of  this  salvation,  and  all  the  wealth  and  indi- 
gencies of  the  world  cannot  purchase  for  him,  the 
comfort  which  he  needs.  The  few  years  of  his  ex- 
istence they  are  but  of  small  importance ;  whether 
they  pass  away  in  sorrow  or  in  joy,  they  will  soon 
pass,  and  their  pains  and  pleasures  be  alike  forgot- 
ten. So  far  as  this  life  is  concerned  therefore,  it 
would  be  reasonable  in  you,  to  dismiss  anxiety  and 
care.  But  you  have  to  die ; — and  after  death,  the 
judgment ;  and  after  the  judgment,  eternity  is  before 
you.  These  claim,  and  must  have  your  faithful 
consideration,  and  intense  concern.  Seventy  years 
of  life,  even  if  you  are  stire  of  their  possession,  we 
will  allow  you  to  despise.     But  the  countless  ages 


LECT.    II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  231 

of  a  future  state  cannot  be  thus  lightly  treated.  For 
them,  the  great  question  is  to  be  settled,  and  to  be 
settled  /lere,  shall  you  be  saved  or  lost  7 

The  object  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  to 
settle  this  important  question  for  you,  and  to  save 
you  with  an  everlasting  salvation.  It  teaches  you 
how  you  shall  attain  this  everlasting  salvation,  how 
you  shall  escape  the  just  judgment  of  God,  and  come 
before  his  spotless  throne,  in  perfect  and  eternal 
peace.  This  is  the  subject  of  instruction  which  I 
desire  to  bring  before  you  in  the  present  discourse, 
in  which  I  would  speak  of  the  Gospel  xcay  of  salva- 
tion. 

By  nature,  you  are  in  a  state  of  utter  ruin  and 
condemnation.  You  have  no  peace  w^ith  God,  and 
when  awakened  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  see  your  real 
condition,  no  comfort  or  hope  in  yourselves.  Eter- 
nity appears  before  you  filled  with  the  blackness  of 
darkness  forever.  You  have  no  foundation  for  hope 
when  God  takes  away  your  soul.  God,  in  his  right- 
eous indignation  against  you,  appears  a  consuming 
fire,  and  you  feel  that  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  Living  God.  But  how  you  shall 
escape  this  anger,  or  be  delivered  from  the  proper 
consequences  of  your  own  transgressions,  it  is  ut- 
terly beyond  your  power  to  determine.  This  is  a 
mystery  which  w^ould  have  remained  hidden  in  God 
forever,  had  it  not  pleased  him,  in  the  riches  of  his 
grace,  to  reveal  it  to  you  in  the  Gospel  of  his  Son. 
To  the  simple  decision  of  this  point,  the  text  before 
us  comes  with  the  revelation  of  the  wisdom  of  God, 
while  it  answers  as  from  the  very  throne  of  the 
Most  High,  to  every  question  and  every  doubt,  "  By 


THE   GOSPEL    WAY    OP    SALVATION.  [lECT.    11. 

grace  are  ye  saved,  through  faith ;  and  that  not  of 
yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God." 

In  considering  this  subject,  the  text  presents  three 
natural  divisions,  in  the  three  assertions  which  it 
makes : 

I.  "  By  grace  ye  are  saved,"  as  the  cause  and  the 
instrument. 

II.  "  Through  faith^^^  as  the  method. 

III.  '^  It  is  the  gift  of  God,"  as  the  origin. 

I.  "  By  grace  ye  are  saved.^^  When  we  are  first 
awakened  and  convinced  of  sin  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
we  ask,  like  the  jailer  at  Philippi,  "  what  shall  we 
do  to  be  saved  ?"  Probably  in  all  cases,  the  first 
idea  which  occurs  to  the  mind,  is  that  we  must  do 
something,  in  order  that  we  may  in  some  way  merit 
or  earn  the  salvation  which  we  want.  The  self- 
righteous  spirit  is  instinct  in  man,  and  immediately 
rises  to  propose  its  own  method  of  relief.  The  per- 
formance of  some  particular  duty,  the  hearing  of 
some  preacher,  the  reading  of  some  book,  the  new 
obedience  of  life  to  come,  or  our  grief  and  sorrow 
for  life  past,  all  severally  occur  to  the  mind,  as  a 
price  for  the  blessing  we  need,  or  as  a  reason  and 
method  for  future  hope.  It  is  often  long,  before  we 
are  willing  to  trust  ourselves  wholly  to  the  free  and 
sovereign  grace  of  God,  and  the  entirely  finished 
salvation  of  Christ,  as  the  foundation  of  all  our  con- 
fidence and  joy.  But  the  salvation  which  the  Gos- 
pel provides,  is  wholly  of  grace,  both  as  flowing 
from  the  original  unmerited  favour  and  mercy  of 
God  the  Father,  and  as  applied  by  the  divine  and 
special  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Father  hath 
sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  The 
Holy  Spirit  takes  of  the  things  of  Christ,  and  shews 


LECT.    II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  233 

them  unto  men ;  and  by  his  new  creating  power,  en- 
ables them  to  receive  him  and  to  believe  in  him,  unto 
life  everlasting.  The  first  aspect  of  the  text  declares 
salvation  as  the  gift  of  grace,  to  the  entire  exclusion 
of  human  merit.  The  second  proclaims  the  appli- 
cation of  this  gift,  by  the  power  of  grace,  to  the 
equal  exclusion  of  the  poiver  of  man.  These  two 
points  we  shall  distinctly  consider. 

I.  "  By  grace  are  ye  saved,"  in  the  free  exercise 
of  divine  mercy ,  shutting  out  every  thought  of  hu- 
man works  or  deservings.  Indeed  the  idea  of  merit 
in  a  fallen  and  imperfect  being  is  in  itself  entirely 
absurd.  Consider  the  condition  of  our  first  parents, 
after  their  disobedience  to  God.  What  could  they 
do,  to  recommend  themselves  to  the  favour  of  the 
God  against  whom  they  had  offended  ?  I  will  not 
ask,  what  they  could  do  to  merit  the  gift  of  God's 
dear  Son,  and  the  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit  upon 
their  hearts,  for  it  is  obvious  that  no  thought  of  the 
possibility  of  such  a  method  of  restoration,  could  by 
any  means  have  entered  into  their  minds.  But  what 
single  personal  act  or  service  could  they  render  to 
God,  for  which  he  should  be  induced  to  pardon  their 
disobedience  and  restore  them  to  his  favour  ?  Or, 
what  can  the  fallen  angels  now  do,  to  restore  the 
image  and  favour  of  God  to  themselves  ?  They  are 
surely  as  capable  of  earning  their  salvation,  if  a  sin- 
ful being  may  ever  earn  it,  as  is  any  unconverted 
sinner  on  earth.  But  if  it  should  be  said,  that 
though  man  could  not  originally  earn  salvation  for 
himself,  yet  since  God  has  mercifully  bestowed  a 
Saviour  upon  man,  we  must  be  expected  to  do  some- 
thing to  deserve  his  favour,  or  by  some  service  to 
repay  him  for  his  kindness ;  I  ask,  what  can  we  do  ? 


234  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  [leCT.    IL 

*'  What  have  we,  that  we  have  not  received  ?" 
"  Without  him,  we  can  do  nothing."  And  if  the 
bestowal  of  his  grace,  must  precede  every  good  act 
in  us,  it  is  evident  that  we  can  do  nothing  to  de- 
serve it.  We  are  wholly  dependent  upon  God's 
sovereign  pleasure,  for  the  ability  both  to  will  and 
to  do.  The  first  gift  of  a  Saviour  sprang  from  God's 
unmerited  love,  and  so  must  our  salvation  by  him 
in  all  its  parts.  We  have  nothing  to  offer  him. 
All  our  sufficiency  is  of  God  ;  and  whatever  we  ren- 
der him,  we  only  give  him  that  which  is  his  own. 

The  Gospel  opens  to  us  therefore,  a  salvation  per- 
fectly free.  It  has  provided  everything  which  our 
souls  can  want.  And  having  made  such  abundant 
provisions,  it  asks  us  to  receive  them  all  without 
money  and  without  price.  They  are  provisions  of 
grace  which  are  clogged  with  no  conditions.  You 
are  to  accept  the  whole,  as  the  gift  of  God  to  those 
who  are  perishing,  and  thus  they  become  your  own 
forever.  Neither  the  depth  of  previous  guilt  nor  the 
extreme  weakness  and  corruption  of  your  nature, 
forms  any  difficulty.  Salvation  is  as  freely  offered 
to  the  pirate  in  his  dungeon,  as  to  the  man  who  is 
in  the  morality  of  his  conduct,  not  far  from  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Whosoever  will,  may  take  a  blessing, 
which  is  offered  to  all  who  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness,  and  to  which  man  can  add  nothing, 
and  for  which  man  has  nothing  to  give.  In  making 
this  free  offer  of  mercy,  the  Gospel  does  not  ask 
what  you  have  been,  or  what  you  have  done.  It 
addresses  you  as  the  chief  of  sinners,  as  crimsoned 
with  the  stains  of  guilt ;  and  presents  the  full  glories 
of  its  finished  and  perfect  salvation,  as  freely  to  one 
as  to  another,  asking  nothing  but  an  humble  and 


LECT.  II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OP    SALVATION.  235 

thankful  acceptance  of  the  gift.  The  whole  work 
of  merit  has  been  finished ;  and  the  whole  offer  of  it 
is  free  and  simple. 

2.  But  how  shall  you  obtain  this  gift  1  How  shall 
it  be  applied  personally  to  your  souls  7  The  text 
answers  you  with  equal  distinctness,  "  by  gi^ace  ye 
are  savedr  The  Holy  Ghost  must  come  upon  you, 
and  the  power  of  the  Highest  must  overshadow  you, 
that  you  may  be  created  anew,  and  led  in  entire 
self-renunciation  to  embrace  the  offers  which  are 
thus  freely  made.  The  Spirit  of  (rod,  gives  a  real 
conviction  of  sin,  a  godly  sorrow  for  sin,  a  true  repen- 
tance from  sin,  and  leads  you  to  the  Saviour  who  is 
revealed  as  your  atonement  and  righteousness,  for 
forgiveness  and  peace.  He  bestows  upon  you  that 
new  heart  and  new  nature,  which  are  promised  in 
the  covenant  which  God  has  made  and  proclaimed 
in  the  Gospel.  His  power  is  all-sufficient;  and 
every  step  which  is  taken,  in  the  way  of  life,  is  the 
working  of  his  mighty  power.  When  you  are  dead 
in  sins,  he  awakens  you  to  spiritual  life.  While  you 
are  infirm  and  feeble,  he  strengthens  and  sustains 
you,  with  new  communications  of  strengtii.  He  re- 
freshes you  with  the  living  water  that  flows  from 
Christ  the  fountain ;  and  feeds  you  with  the  living 
bread,  which  is  Christ  the  gift  of  God.  From  the 
first  hour,  to  the  last,  of  your  spiritual  life,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  you  are  what  you  are.  There  is  no 
dependence  placed  in  human  power.  Your  own 
wisdom,  strength,  or  determination,  are  not  the  in- 
struments of  your  safety.  The  Gospel  demands 
nothing  of  you,  which  it  does  not  first  impart  to  you, 
and  work  within  you,  that  from  the  divine  fulness 
you  may  receive  grace  upon  grace.    When  it  re- 


236  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  [lECT.  II. 

quires  you  to  repent,  or  believe,  or  walk  in  new  obe- 
dience, it  offers  to  you  as  gifts,  the  very  qualities 
which  it  commands  you  to  exercise.  Nor  is  there 
a  single  Christian  attribute  which  can  flow  from 
any  other  source,  than  this  amazing  sufficiency 
which  is  thus  laid  open. 

This  view  of  salvation  as  wholly  of  grace,  is  most 
important  to  you,  and  cannot  be  too  deeply  impressed 
upon  your  minds.  The  Saviour  asks  nothing  from 
you,  but  what  he  at  the  same  time  offers  to  give 
you.  There  is  not  a  grace  in  the  renewed  heart 
which  proceeds  not  from  his  own  gift.  The  very 
same  Spirit  upholds  and  sanctifies  the  steadfast  be- 
liever, which  first  awakened  the  careless  guilty,  and 
consoled  and  transformed  the  penitent  transgressor. 
The  Gospel  sets  up  no  one  with  an  independent 
stock  of  religious  character  or  influence.  Your 
manna  must  fall  every  morning,  and  be  gathered 
before  the  sun  is  hot.  Your  barrel  and  your  cruse 
shall  never  fail,  but  they  shall  never  be  filled.  As 
your  day  is,  so  and  only  so,  shall  your  strength  be. 
And  you  might  as  reasonably  close  the  shutters  of 
your  hous^at  noonday,  to  retain  for  future  use,  the 
light  of  the  sun  which  you  have  already  received, 
as  think  of  retaining  grace  and  strength  when  sepa- 
rated from  immediate  and  uninterrupted  communi- 
cation with  the  great  source  of  both.  You  can  live 
only  while  Christ  lives  in  you.  From  the  first  to 
the  last,  the  work  of  your  sanctification  is  all  divine, 
and  the  glory  belongs  entirely  to  God. 

Thus  the  Gospel  salvation  is  in  these  two  dis- 
tinct aspects,  a  salvation  by  grace,  to  the  entire  ex- 
clusion, both  of  human  merit,  and  of  human  power. 
The  provisions  which  God  has  made,  it  asks  men 


LECT.  II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  237 

to  accept  with  confidence  and  gratitude ;  and  then 
promises,  and  gives  them  the  power  to  accept  them. 
The  full  foundation  for  your  hope  w^as  laid,  when 
the  Prince  of  Life  rose  from  the  dead,  after  having 
oflered  himself  upon  the  cross  as  a  sacrifice  for  sins. 
Upon  this  foundation,  you  are  able  to  build  securely 
and  happily,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is  permitted  to 
lead  you  back,  from  your  love  and  pursuit  of  sin,  to 
acknowledge  and  to  receive  Christ  the  Saviour  as 
your  righteousness  and  peace. 

II.  The  text  states  the  method  in  which  you  be- 
come interested  in  this  salvation,  ''  by  grace  are  ye 
saved,  through  faithP 

Every  gracious  provision  of  the  Gospel  is  made 
for  us,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  entirely  independent 
of  ourselves ;  and  the  w^ork  of  our  salvation  is  ac- 
complished, w^hen  by  the  Divine  Spirit  we  are  fi- 
nally interested  in  these  abundant  provisions  wiiich 
God  freely  oflers  us  in  his  own  Son.  When  we  are 
thus  united  to  Christ,  we  are  partakers  of  his  abun- 
dant merit,  and  of  the  Father's  mercy  in  him ;  our 
sins  are  pardoned  through  his  atonement ;  our  souls 
are  justified  through  his  obedience  ;  his  divine  power 
is  covenanted  for  us  ;  and  because  he  lives,  we  shall 
live  also.  All  these  provisions  of  grace,  are  beyond 
ourselves,  and  independent  of  our  works ;  and  it  is 
by  faith  in  the  powder  and  truth  of  him  who  offers 
them,  that  w^e  are  interested  in  them.  The  founda- 
tion is  laid  ;  it  is  perfect ;  it  is  sufficient.  Whether 
we  believe  or  not,  it  remains  the  same.  G^d  cannot 
deny  himself.  Would  you  become  partakers  of  this 
offered  grace,  you  must  believe  the  record  which 
God  hath  given  you  concerning  his  Son ;  and  look 
in  confidence  to  him,  for  the  communication  of  these 


238  THE   GOSPEL    WAY    OF   SALVATION.  [lECT.    II. 

benefits  to  yourselves.  You  must  rest  your  hopes 
and  your  affections,  upon  that  unmerited  love  of 
God  which  has  offered  salvation ;  and  trust  in  that 
all-powerful  influence  of  his  Spirit  which  may  apply 
this  salvation  to  you.  There  is  no  other  method, 
by  w4iich  you  may  obtain  an  interest  in  the  mercies 
which  God  has  treasured  up  in  Jesus  Christ.  Your 
simple  confidence  in  the  power  and  promises  of 
Christ,  is  the  way  which  the  Scripture  uniformly 
teaches,  by  which  his  fulness  of  grace  and  his  fin- 
ished work  of  righteousness  is  to  become  yours.  If  I 
have  treasured  up  in  my  house  abundant  provisions 
for  the  destitute,  which  I  offer  freely  to  their  use  if 
they  will  receive  them,  how  can  they  obtain  the 
blessing  which  is  provided,  but  by  believing  that  it 
is  there,  that  it  will  be  indeed  bestowed,  and  then 
by  asking  in  this  confidence  of  faith  for  its  bestowal  ? 
God's  treasures  of  grace  are  laid  up  for  you  in  Christ. 
They  are  not  now  to  be  provided  or  made,  or  to  be 
increased  in  any  degree  by  anything  that  you  can 
do.  Believe  that  they  are  there  ;  believe  that  they 
are  all-sufficient ;  believe  that  they  will  indeed  be 
given ;  and  then  ask  for  them  with  the  sense  of  their 
need,  and  the  desire  to  obtain  them,  which  faith  pro- 
duces ;  and  you  shall  not  be  sent  empty  away.  It 
is  the  character  of  his  people,  that  they  "  have  known 
and  believed,  the  love  which  God  hath  to  them." 
This  perfect  love  casts  out  all  fear,  and  gives  them 
new  and  simple  confidence  and  hope. 

It  is  true  you  are  required  to  repent  of  sin  ;  and 
to  obey  the  commands  of  God  in  a  new  life  of  holi- 
ness. But  these  are  the  attendants  and  results  of  a 
sincere  faith.  You  can  have  no  repentance  unto 
salvation,  without  believing  in  him  whom  you  have 


LECT.  II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  239 

pierced  who  is  exalted  to  bestow  it.  You  cannot 
obey  a  single  command,  but  by  his  power  dwelling 
within  you.  All  these  gracious  dispositions  and 
habits  are  fruits  of  his  Holy  Spirit;  and  they  are  so 
far  from  being  any  preceding  qualification  by  which 
you  obtain  salvation,  that  they  are  themselves  a 
part,  and  a  most  important  part,  of  that  very  salva- 
tion, which  is  offered  you  freely  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  purchase  of  his  obedience  and  death. 
"  He  that  hath  the  Son,  hath  life ;"  and  all  the  traits, 
and  attributes,  and  acts  of  life,  flow  out  from  it. 

Do  you  ask  for  a  godly  sorrow  for  sin  ?  for  a  sub- 
jection of  your  unholy  afiections  ?  for  the  dominion 
of  holiness  and  love  within  your  hearts  1  May  not 
the  Lord  Jesus  reply  to  all  this, ''  believest  thou  that 
I  am  able  to  do  this  ?"  And  will  not  his  bestowal 
of  these,  and  of  all  other  things  accompanying  sal- 
vation, depend  upon  the  answer  which  your  con- 
science must  render,  to  a  question  like  this  7  "  Only 
believe,"  we  may  still  say  to  you,  in  reply  to  every 
difficulty,  and  these  and  all  other  mercies  will  be 
certainly  bestowed.  The  treasury  of  God's  mercy 
and  love,  in  which  attributes  he  is  ''  rich,"  is  freely 
opened  to  you.  Everything  which  you  want  is 
there.  Your  coming  thither  in  faith,  will  bring  you 
to  such  provisions  of  grace  as  pass  man's  under- 
standing. You  can  purchase  nothing.  You  have 
nothing  to  offer.  You  can  render  no  return.  When 
you  are  vitally  interested  in  Christ,  you  will  need 
nothing  more.  By  faith  you  are  thus  ingrafted  in 
him.  There  you  will  find  no  deficiency  for  your 
own  power  to  supply.  When  he  dwells  within  you 
by  faith  as  your  hope  of  glory,  every  holy  trait, 
every  lovely  disposition,  every  spiritual  habit,  every 


240  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  [lECT.    II. 

heavenly  desire,  shall  spring  and  rise  and  flourish 
and  spread  abroad  in  your  heart  and  character,  from 
Christ  who  dwelleth  in  you,  by  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  with  which  he  sanctifieth  you.  But  until  by 
faith,  you  put  on  Christ,  and  yield  yourselves  to  him, 
you  are  dead  in  your  sins.  "  He  that  hath  not  the 
Son  of  God,  hath  not  life."  And  a  dead  man  might 
as  justly  be  expected,  to  rise  up,  and  offer  a  price 
for  that  life,  the  possession  of  which  is  implied  in 
this  very  rising,  as  you  expect  to  offer  anything, 
from  a  depraved  and  dead  soul,  upon  the  worth  of 
which  Christ  may  shew  the  further  power  of  his 
grace.  You  are  to  be  saved  wholly  by  grace ;  that 
grace  is  applied  to  you  through  a  faith  which  is  of 
the  operation  of  God.  So  that  even  here,  to  take 
away  all  pride  and  glorying  from  yourselves,  the 
grace  and  faith  and  every  mercy  are  declared  to 
spring  from  other  power  than  yours.  They  are  all 
"  the  gift  of  God,"  a  gift  to  those  who  are  poor,  and 
destitute,  and  perishing  in  sin. 

III.  "  That  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  GodJ^ 
This  last  assertion  does  not  refer  merely  to  the  faith 
which  has  been  just  declared  as  the  method  of  sal- 
vation, but  to  the  whole  salvation  by  grace  of  which 
the  text  speaks.  Every  part  of  man's  salvation  is 
equally  the  free  gift  of  God.  The  original  purpose 
to  save,  the  glorious  sacrifice  which  has  been  made, 
the  offer  of  the  benefits  of  that  sacrifice  to  you,  the 
acceptance  of  it  by  your  own  hearts,  and  the  peace 
and  holiness  which  this  acceptance  gives,  are  all 
equally  the  result  of  af  principle  of  love  in  God, 
which  looks  to  no  merit,  or  strength,  or  recompense, 
in  the  creatures,  to  whom  the  gift  is  made.  The 
same  determinate   counsel   and  purpose  of  divine 


LECT.  II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  241 

mercy  which  delivered  up  a  Saviour  to  be  crucified 
for  you,  and  elected  you  as  the  objects  of  this  amaz- 
ing gift,  will  in  the  last  day  finish  your  salvation  by 
crowning  you  with  him.  Your  last  breath  will  be 
as  much  dependent  upon  him  as  your  first;  and 
eternity  will  be  spent,  not  in  personal  congratula- 
tions upon  your  own  strength,  or  wisdom,  or  perse- 
verance, but  in  raptured  hallelujahs  of  thanksgiving, 
to  him  who  has  loved  you,  and  given  himself  for 
you,  and  washed  you  from  your  sins  in  his  own 
blood,  and  redeemed  you  from  every  kindred  and 
tongue  and  people  and  nation,  to  make  you  kings 
and  priests  unto  God  forever. 

These  precious  truths  have  been  controverted  in 
every  age,  and  there  have  been  multitudes  of  men 
who  have  opposed  this  casting  down  of  human 
merit,  and  this  ascription  of  all  praise  and  glory  to 
the  grace  of  God.  Still  the  Bible  teaches  the  same 
thing ;  and  the  plain  and  simple  way  of  salvation 
which  it  first  laid  open  to  sinners,  it  lays  open  now. 
And  it  seems  to  me  that  nothing  can  be  more  plain 
and  evident  and  intelligible,  than  is  this  way  of  sal- 
vation which  the  Gospel  offers.  On  the  one  side 
there  is  a  poor  wretched  creature,  wanting  every- 
thing and  having  nothing  to  give ;  and  on  the  other, 
there  is  a  bountiful  Sovereign  and  Lord,  who  offers 
everything  freely,  and  asks  no  price  from  the  sub- 
ject of  his  grace. 

The  Gospel  is  provided  in  all  its  operations  as  a 
remedy  for  existing  evil ;  and  as  such  it  is  in  every 
part  exclusively  "  the  gift  of  God."  If  you  come 
back  to  consider  the  actual  state  of  a  fallen  being, 
the  actual  condition  of  your  own  souls  by  nature, 
you  will  find  yourselves  to  be  entirely  in  a  guilty, 

11 


242  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  [lECT.  II. 

polluted  and  helpless  condition.     In  this  state  of 
spiritual  ruin,  God  has  provided  for  you  a  remedy ; 
and  he  both  inclines  and  enables  you  to  accept  and 
apply  that  remedy.     For  your  guilt  he  applies  to 
you  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ ;  for  your  pollution 
and  weakness,  he  sends  the  Holy  Spirit  to  bring 
you  to  Christ,  and  to  begin  and  carry  on  a  work  of 
grace  within  your  hearts.     By  looking  to  Christ  you 
may  obtain  peace  with  God  and  in  your  own  con- 
science ;  and  by  yielding  yourselves  to  the  influences 
of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  you  may  become  renewed  and 
sanctified  in   all    your  powers.      Your  renovated 
health  will  begin  immediately  to  appear.     You  will 
he  enabled  to  mortify  all  your  former  corruptions, 
and  to  walk  holily,  justly  and  unblamably  before 
God  and  man,  and  will  become  transformed  into  the 
divine  image  in   righteousness   and   true   holiness. 
But  to   what  then   shall   be   ascribed  the  change 
which  has  taken  place  within  you  ?     Will  it  not  be 
altogether  owing   to  the   remedy   which   God  has 
prescribed  and  enabled  you   to  apply  ?     To  your 
latest  hour  you  will  continue   to  apply  the  same 
remedy  ;  for  through  the  whole  of  this  life  you  will 
be  only  convalescent  and  not  perfectly  recovered. 
And  when  in  the  full  establishment  of  your  spiritual 
health  in  the  heavenly  inheritance,  you  tell  the  his- 
tory of  your  restoration,  it  will  be  to  the  sole  honour 
of  that  Almighty  Physician,  who  visited  you  in  your 
lost  estate,  and  brought  a  balm  which  was  adequate 
to  your  need.     Now  is  not  this  perfectly  plain  and 
simple '?     Is  it  not  exactly  the  gift  which  every  sin- 
ner wants  for  the  peace  of  his  mind,  and  for  the 
sanctification  and  salvation  of  his  soul  ?    Yet  in  this 
representation,  all  is  of  grace.     Both  the  Saviour 


LECT.  II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  243 

himself,  and  unmerited  salvation  through  him,  are 
the  free  gift  of  God  ;  and  not  according  to  works  of 
righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  according  to 
his  mercy  we  are  saved  by  the  washing  of  regenera- 
tion and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

I  have  thus  endeavoured  to  set  before  you  the 
Gospel  icay  of  salvation.  You  find  it  a  way  per- 
fectly adapted  to  your  condition  and  to  your  neces- 
sities. It  calls  for  your  sincere  thankfulness  to  God 
who  has  been  willing  to  provide  it,  and  for  your 
cordial  acceptance  of  the  gift,  while  it  is  so  freely  pre- 
sented. But  all  will  be  of  no  avail  to  you  unless 
you  embrace  with  rejoicing,  the  remedy  which  is 
thus  presented.  Let  not  the  subject  therefore,  be 
allowed  to  rest  in  your  understandings  unfruitful 
and  barren.  Seek  to  have  your  hearts  interested  in 
it ;  hear  the  voice  of  the  Spirit,  which  says  to  you, 
^'  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it ;"  and  turn  not  to 
the  right  hand  or  to  the  left  Let  me  beseech  you 
to  seek  a  deep  acquaintance  with  your  real  state 
before  God,  and  the  application  to  yourselves  of  the 
gracious  remedy  which  is  offered  you  in  the  Gospel. 

Had  you  but  a  due  preparation  of  heart  for  the 
reception  of  this  Gospel,  were  you  truly  convinced 
of  your  un worthiness  and  danger,  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation  would  distil  as  the  dew  upon  your  souls, 
as  the  showers  that  water  the  mown  grass.  Did 
you  feel  that  the  sorrows  of  death  compassed  you 
about,  and  the  pains  of  hell  had  got  hold  upon  you, 
in  the  deep  and  piercing  sense  of  your  own  guilt,  the 
sound  of  salvation  purchased  by  our  incarnate  God 
would  transport  your  souls,  as  it  did  the  angels, 
when  they  sung,  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest;  and 
on  earth,  peace;   good  will  towards  men."     Un- 


244  THE    GOSPEL    WAV    OF    SALVATION.  [lECT.  IL 

speakable  joy  would  spring  up  in  your  hearts  from 
the  thought  of  an  indwelling  God,  undertaking  your 
cause  and  working  effectually  upon  your  souls.  The 
great  and  universal  reason  why  you  hear  the  gra- 
cious invitations  and  promises  of  the  Gospel  so  inat- 
tentively, and  with  so  little  effect  upon  your  charac- 
ters, is,  that  you  are  not  convinced  of  your  danger. 
You  do  not  feel  and  mourn  over  your  lost  condition. 
"  They  that  are  whole  need  not  a  physician."  Be- 
cause so  many  of  you  believe  yourselves  to  be  whole, 
the  remedy  is  heedlessly  rejected,  and  your  souls  are 
left  to  perish.  O  that  God  would  tear  off  from  your 
hearts,  the  veil  which  Satan  and  the  world  are  unit- 
ing to  weave  over  you,  and  make  you  to  see  the  pollu- 
tions which  are  there  open  to  his  view  !  Why  are 
you  so  anxious  to  deceive  yourselves  in  this  matter  ? 
There  is  a  day  before  you  when  hell  shall  be  naked, 
and  destruction  shall  have  no  covering ;  when  every 
false  excuse  shall  fail,  and  every  extenuating  plea 
shall  become  utterly  useless  ;  and  when,  though  dis- 
covery shall  be  perfect,  it  shall  be  too  late  to  be  ben- 
eficial. If  you  are  insolvent  and  ruined,  why  at- 
tempt to  delude  yourselves  with  the  contrary  belief  7 
But  are  you  not  1  Do  you  not  feel  so  7  Then  Jesus 
is  no  Saviour  to  you.  You  may  as  profitably  own 
Mahomet  or  Brahma  for  your  Lord,  as  Jesus.  He 
will  not,  he  cannot  save  you  till  you  feel  yourselves 
to  be  lost.  I  pray  you  look  at  your  characters  in  the 
mirror  of  God's  infallible  word  ;  and  while  he  pro- 
claims that  you  have  altogether  gone  out  of  the 
way,  acknowledge  the  truth  of  his  representation, 
and  be  willing  that  he  should  bring  you  back  to 
himself  in  peace. 

Upon  this  deep  acquaintance  with  your  own  char- 


LECT.    II.]  THE    GOSPEL    WAY    OF    SALVATION.  245 

acter  and  state  alone,  can  be  built  a  proper  accept- 
ance of  the  Gospel.  However  your  understandings 
may  be  enlightened  with  a  knowledge  of  the  Gospel 
way  of  salvation,  it  will  profit  you  nothing  while  this 
knowledge  is  merely  speculative.  Though  the  pa- 
tient in  the  hospital  should  deliver  a  lecture  upon 
his  own  disease,  and  the  adaptation  of  the  remedy 
to  his  want,  it  would  avail  but  little  should  he  still 
refuse  to  apply  the  remedy  to  himself  If  you  neglect 
the  gracious  remedy  of  the  Gospel,  or  substitute  any 
other  in  its  stead,  you  do  so  to  your  eternal  ruin.  I 
beseech  you  to  look  to  Christ  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  for 
the  justification,  and  the  sanctification  of  your  souls. 
In  no  other  conceivable  method  can  you  find  salva- 
tion from  the  condemnation  of  the  law,  the  bondage 
of  sin,  and  the  everlasting  punishment  of  hell.  There 
is  no  other  name  given  for  salvation,  but  the  name 
of  Jesus ;  and  that  name  is  worse  than  useless  to 
you,  unless  it  be  permitted  to  dwell  in  your  heart, 
as  your  hope  and  comfort.  Yield  yourselves  to  his 
power.  Be  willing  to  be  saved  by  grace  through 
faith ;  and  so  receive  the  unspeakable  gift  of  God, 
that  his  power  may  operate  within  you,  to  bring  you 
home  to  that  fold  of  ransomed  sinners,  which  is  un- 
der one  shepherd,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Great  Bishop 
and  Shepherd  of  souls. 


LECTURE   III. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GOSPEL. 

Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  for  he  hath  visited  and  redeemed  his 
people. 

As  he  spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets,  which  have  been  since  the 
world  began."— St.  Luke,  i.  68—70. 

In  one  previous  discourse,  we  have  considered 
the  great  object  vv^hich  the  Gospel  designs  to  accom- 
plish;  "to  seek  and  to  save  that  w^hich  is  lost."  In 
another,  I  have  spoken  of  the  loay  w^hich  the  Gos- 
pel lays  open  for  the  attainment  of  this  object,  which 
is  "  by  grace  through  faith,  as  the  gift  of  God."  Be- 
fore I  proceed  to  consider  several  distinct  attributes 
and  characteristics  of  the  Gospel,  I  wish  in  my  pres- 
ent discourse  to  set  before  you  the  history  of  the 
Gospel.  By  this  expression,  I  do  not  mean  the  nar- 
rative of  facts  which  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists 
contain,  but  the  history  of  the  Gospel  itself  as  a  dis- 
pensation to  man,  showing  its  origin  and  its  prog- 
ress, in  the  clear  manifestations  of  its  grace  to  those 
for  whom  it  was  designed,  since  the  fall  of  man. 
As  an  appropriate  introduction  to  this  subject,  I 
have  selected  this  text  from  the  sacred  hymn  which 
Zacharias  uttered  at  the  circumcision  of  his  son. 
This  hymn  was  spoken  by  the  immediate  inspira- 
tion of  God,  for  it  is  said,  "  that  Zacharias  was  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  prophesied"  in  the  divine 


LECT.  III.]  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE   GOSPEL;  247 

language  which  is  here  contained.  Every  asser- 
tion therefore  which  this  hymn  makes,  must  be  in- 
fallible and  eternal  truth.  The  son  of  Zacharias 
was  the  forerunner  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world ;  and  on  the  occasion  of  his 
public  dedication  to  God,  his  father  prophesied  of 
the  character  and  work  of  that  Saviour  before  whom 
he  was  to  be  sent. 

The  Redeemer  was  not  yet  born  in  the  lowly  na- 
ture which  he  had  assumed.  But  the  faith  of  Zach- 
arias was  led  forward  to  him,  when  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  none  of  his  auditors,  besides  his  own 
wife,  understood  the  allusions  which  he  made. 
"  Blessed,"  he  says,  "  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  for 
he  hath  visited  and  redeemed  his  people,  and  hath 
raised  up  a  horn  of  salvation  for  us  in  the  house  of 
his  servant  David."  In  the  figurative  language  of 
the  Israelites,  a  horn  implies  great  strength ;  and  in 
the  text,  "a  horn  of  salvation,"  is  a  strong  salvation; 
an  all-sufficient  salvation ;  a  salvation  to  the  utter- 
most ;  or,  as  in  our  prayer-book  "  a  mighty  salva- 
tion ;"  because  accomplished  by  the  mighty  God  of 
Israel,  although  he  stooped  to  be  a  babe  in  the  fam- 
ily of  his  servant  David.  The  reference  of  this  high 
title,  "  The  Lord  God  of  Israel,"  to  the  child  who 
was  to  be  born  of  Mary,  becomes  evident  in  the  suc- 
ceeding verses  of  the  hymn,  in  which  Zacharias  ad- 
dresses himself  to  his  own  child,  whom  he  now  held 
up  in  dedication  unto  God,  "  And  thou,  child,  shalt 
be  called  the  prophet  of  the  Highest,  for  thou  shalt 
go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his  ways." 
And  this  perfectly  corresponds  with  the  statement 
of  the  angel  before  the  birth  of  John,  "  He  shall  be 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  from  his  mother's 


248  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.  III. 

womb ;  and  many  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  he 
turn  to  the  Lord  their  God,  and  he  shall  go  before 
him,  (the  Lord  God  of  Israel,)  in  the  spirit  of  Elias, 
to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and 
the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just,  to  make 
ready  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord." 

The  great  event  for  which  Zacharias  thus  praises 
God,  was  the  incarnation  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel ; 
the  whole  sum  and  substance  of  the  Gospel.  This 
raising  up  of  a  mighty  salvation  in  the  family  of 
David,  in  the  birth  of  him  who  was  to  be  the  Sav- 
iour of  the  world,  Zacharias  says  was  a  fulfilment 
of  all  the  divine  promises  of  salvation  to  the  people 
of  Israel.  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  for 
he  hath  visited  and  redeemed  his  people,  as  he  spake 
by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets,  which  have  been 
since  the  world  began."  The  incarnation  and  suf- 
fering of  the  Son  of  God,  is  the  subject  of  the  Gos- 
pel. This  Gospel  has  been  proclaimed  by  the  in- 
spired prophets  of  God,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world.  The  interesting  subject  which  I  now  pro- 
pose to  you,  the  history  of  the  Gospel,  will  lead  me, 

I.  Firstj  cursorily  to  trace  these  different  publica- 
tions of  the  Gospel  to  men,  from  the  earliest  ages 
of  the  world,  in  order  to  shew  that  the  great  truth 
upon  which  we  rest  our  hope,  the  incarnation  of  a 
mighty  Saviour,  was  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
spoken  to  our  fathers  by  the  holy  prophets  whom 
God  inspired. 

From  the  day  of  man's  fall  from  God,  one  great 
plan  has  comprehended  the  whole  arrangement  of 
divine  providence,  and  divine  mercy.  This  one  plan 
is  the  redemption  of  the  world,  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.     For  this  the  earth  and  men  have  been  suf- 


LECT.  III.]  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  249 

fered  to  exist.  For  this  the  mighty  revolutions  of 
the  sons  of  men  have  been  overruled.  For  this  the 
least  event  in  the  life  of  each  individual  subject  of 
redemption  is  made  to  operate.  And  all  things 
work  together  for  this  unspeakable  good  to  those 
who  love  God,  who  are  called  according  to  this  pur- 
pose. 

The  Scriptures  teach  us  that  all  the  various  parts 
of  man's  salvation  have  been  devised  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world.  The  great  covenant  of  re- 
demption between  the  persons  of  the  Deity,  in  which 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  united  to 
bring  back  the  captives  of  Satan,  was  made  before 
the  world  was  created.  The  great  sacrifice  which 
the  law  demanded,  and  which  this  covenant  of  re- 
demption provided,  was  then  appointed,  and  Jesus 
is  called  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  The  book  of  life  was  then  prepared,  and 
the  saints  are  said  to  be  those  who  are  written  in 
the  Lamb's  book  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
The  everlasting  home  for  the*  saints  was  then  pro- 
vided ;  for  thus  says  Jesus  of  the  redeemed,  "  Then 
shall  the  king  say  to  them  on  his  right  hand,  come 
ye  blessed  of  my  father,  receive  Ihe  kingdom  pre- 
pared for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 
The  view  which  is  thus  presented  of  the  great  sal- 
vation of  the  Gospel,  is  high  and  comforting.  For 
the  everlasting  good  of  the  feeblest  Christian,  the 
power  of  Almighty  God  has  been  exerted  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world ;  and  the  Gospel,  which  in 
its  rich  and  attractive  invitations  is  preached  to  us, 
is  the  simple  but  glorious  intelligence  of  that  which 
occupied  the  wisdom  and  the  love  of  heaven,  before 
this  world  was  formed.     The  redeeming  visit  of  the 

ir 


250  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.  III. 

Lord  God  of  Israel,  of  which  Zacharias  speaks,  was 
planned  and  determined  before  the  creation,  and  has 
been  announced  as  the  object  of  faith  to  the  people 
of  God,  in  every  age  since  the  world  began.  This  I 
will  proceed  to  exhibit  to  you,  and  may  your  hearts 
unite  with  the  father  of  the  Baptist  in  blessing  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel  for  this  work  of  grace. 

1.  We  will  first  speak  of  that  period  of  history 
between  the  fall  of  man  and  the  covenant  with 
Abraham,  and  shew  how,  in  all  this  interval  of  time, 
God  was  proclaiming  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel 
to  men. 

As  soon  as  Adam  fell,  the  Son  of  God  immediately 
entered  upon  the  office  and  work  of  a  mediator. 
This  work  he  had  undertaken  before  the  world  be- 
gan ;  for  he  thus  says  of  himself,  "  I  was  set  up  from 
everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the  earth 
was."  Now  the  appointed  time  had  come,  and  in 
the  moment  of  man's  transgression,  he  immediately 
presented  himself  as  the  daysman  between  a  holy, 
infinite,  offended  majesty,  and  offending  mankind. 
His  mediation  was  at  once  accepted,  and  wrath  was 
prevented  from  going  forth  to  execute  the  amazing 
curse  which  had  been  denounced  against  transgres- 
sion. It  is  manifest  that  Christ  began  his  work  of 
mediation  instantly  upon  the  fall,  because  God  im- 
mediately exercised  mercy,  and  did  not  cut  off  man 
at  once  as  he  did  the  angels  who  had  sinned.  But 
no  mercy  could  be  extended  to  fallen  man,  but 
through  a  mediator.  The  exercise  of  divine  for- 
bearance and  mercy  shows  the  commencement  of 
the  work  of  the  Gospel,  and  when  the  Saviour  came 
to  comfort  our  first  parents,  on  the  day  of  their 
transgression,  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  he  came  to 


LECT.  III.]  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  251 

geek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost,  as  much  as 
when  he  came  afterwards  to  take  upon  himself  the 
nature  of  man  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

From  that  day  Christ  took  upon  himself  the  care 
of  his  church  in  all  his  offices.  He  undertook  to 
teach  his  people  as  their  great  prophet ;  to  intercede 
for  them  as  their  priest,  and  to  govern  them  as  their 
king.  He  was  then  set  up  as  the  captain  of  the 
Lord's  host;  as  the  captain  of  salvation  to  his  church, 
to  defend  them  against  all  their  foes,  and  from  that 
hour  God  acted  solely  through  a  mediator,  in  teach- 
ing, governing,  and  blessing  the  children  of  men. 
While  on  the  day  of  the  fall  the  Son  of  God  com- 
menced the  attainment  of  the  great  object  of  his 
mediation,  on  the  same  day  intelligence  of  this  was 
also  proclaimed  to  man,  and  the  Gospel  was  first 
preached  upon  the  earth.  God  said  unto  the  ser- 
pent, "  I  will  put  enmity  between  thy  seed  and  her 
seed :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head  and  thou  shalt  bruise 
his  heel."  Here  was  the  first  revelation  of  the  cov- 
enant of  grace,  the  first  dawning  of  the  Gospel  upon 
the  earth.  By  the  transgression  of  man,  the  light 
of  God's  favour  had  been  shrouded  in  darkness, 
which  neither  men  nor  angels  could  scatter;  and 
when,  on  that  day  of  sin,  God  called  man  to  account, 
his  heart  was  tilled  with  shame  and  terror.  These 
words  of  God  were  the  first  dawning  of  a  returning 
light.  Before  they  were  uttered  there  was  not  one 
glimpse  of  mercy ;  not  one  beam  of  comfort,  nor  a 
single  source  of  hope  to  the  sinner.  Here  was  a 
certain  intimation  of  a  merciful  design  to  be  ac- 
complished by  "  the  seed  of  the  woman,"  which  was 
like  the  first  glimmering  of  morning  in  the  eastern 
sky.     This  gracious  promise  was  given  before  the 


252  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    III. 

sentence  was  pronounced  upon  either  Adam  or  Eve, 
from  tenderness  to  them,  lest  they  should  be  over- 
borne with  a  sentence  of  condemnation,  without 
having  anything  held  out  whence  they  could  gather 
hope  of  deliverance.  In  the  institution  of  sacrifices, 
with  the  skins  of  which  Adam  and  Eve  were  clothed, 
the  Gospel  was  again  revealed  to  man,  and  a  per- 
manent type  set  up  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  by 
which  the  power  of  Satan  was  to  be  subdued.  The 
ordinance  of  sacrifices  was  instituted  immediately 
after  the  revelation  by  the  promise  of  the  covenant 
of  grace.  Thus  the  first  stone  of  the  great  edifice 
of  man's  redemption  was  laid  in  a  prophecy  of 
Christ,  and  the  next  in  this  standing  type  of  his  one 
sacrifice  for  sin. 

Not  long  after  the  Gospel  was  thus  first  pro- 
claimed upon  earth,  and  the  way  of  salvation  through 
a  Mediator  was  laid  open,  God  began  the  work  of 
actually  saving  the  souls  of  men.  It  is  probable 
that  the  first  fruits  of  the  redemption  of  Christ  were 
Adam  and  Eve.  It  is  probable,  I  say,  from  God's 
manner  of  treating  them,  in  comforting  them  by  a 
promise,  under  their  awakenings  and  terrors;  for 
while  they  stood  trembling  and  astonished  before 
their  Judge,  without  any  expedient  from  which  they 
could  gather  hope,  then  God  offered  them  an  en- 
couragement, and  told  them  of  his  designs  of  mercy 
through  a  Saviour  before  he  passed  the  sentence 
against  them.  But  it  is  certain  that  in  their  chil- 
dren, the  great  Captain  of  Salvation  manifested  his 
power  to  save  to  the  uttermost.  In  the  instance  of 
righteous  Abel,  we  hear  of  the  first  ransomed  sinner 
who  entered  the  inheritance  of  glory  through  Christ's 
redemption.     In  him  the  Gospel  thus  wrought  its 


LECT.  III.]  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  253 

perfect  work.  In  him  the  angels  first  acted  as  min- 
istering spirits  to  bring  a  lost  soul  to  glory.  And  in 
him  the  holy  inhabitants  of  heaven  had  the  first 
opportunity  to  behold  one  of  this  fallen,  ruined  race, 
brought  to  tlie  enjoyment  of  the  heavenly  rest. 
Thus,  while  they  saw  the  first  effect  of  the  full 
operation  of  the  Gospel,  and  could  sing  "  worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  honour,  and 
glory,  and  blessing,"  he  first  experienced  this  opera- 
tion of  redeeming  love,  and  first  raised  in  heaven 
that  song  of  experience,  "  to  him  who  had  loved 
him,  and  given  himself  for  him,  and  redeemed  him" 
from  misery  and  death,  and  had  made  him  a  king 
and  priest  unto  God  forever.  By  faith  Abel  had 
accepted  the  promises  which  God  had  given  unto 
man ;  and  oflfering,  in  this  faith,  a  sacrifice  which 
was  indeed  excellent  and  acceptable,  he  obtained 
witness  that  he  was  righteous ;  and  by  this  instance 
of  a  living  and  sufficient  faith,  "he  being  dead,  yet 
speaketh." 

By  Enoch,  God  was  pleased  again  with  great 
clearness  to  testify  the  coming  of  the  Lord  to  es- 
tablish the  kingdom  which  was  committed  to  him 
upon  the  earth.  "  The  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thou- 
sand of  his  saints  to  execute  judgment  upon  all." 
This  may  refer  to  any  particular  coming  of  Christ, 
and  it  cannot  reasonably  be  confined  to  any  one. 
But  it  speaks  generally  of  his  coming  in  the  power 
and  glory  of  his  kingdom,  and  is  fulfilled,  both  in  his 
first  coming  to  purchase  a  people  for  himself,  and 
his  second  coming  to  finish  the  salvation  of  this 
people,  and  the  destruction  of  his  enemies,  and  to 
set  up  his  glorious  kingdom  on  earth.  The  coming 
of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to  visit  and  redeem  his 


254  THE    HISTORY    OP    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.  III. 

people,  and  to  place  his  enemies  under  his  feet, 
forms  the  whole  matter  of  the  Gospel.  To  this 
faith  Enoch  was  directed ;  and  while  he  prophesied 
of  it  to  the  men  of  his  generation,  he  embraced  it  as 
the  hope  and  comfort  of  his  own  soul.  By  faith  in 
this  appointed  Mediator,  he  was  translated  that  he 
should  not  see  death ;  and  was  not,  for  God  took 
him. 

Noah  also  became  a  preacher  of  righteousness, 
and  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  preached  to  those  whose 
souls  were  in  captivity  and  bondage  to  the  power 
of  sin.  The  righteousness  which  he  preached,  and 
of  which  he  became  an  heir,  was  the  righteousness 
of  faith,  or  the  righteousness  of  the  Mediator  not  yet 
finished,  embraced  by  faith.  With  him  God  re- 
newed his  covenant  of  grace,  and  gave  him  a  prom- 
ise of  peculiar  blessings  in  the  posterity  of  Shem. 
God  accepted  the  sacrifice  which  he  offered,  and 
established  with  him  and  his  seed  after  him,  that 
everlasting  covenant  in  all  things  well  ordered  and 
sure. 

By  faith  in  this  one  Mediator,  who  was  to  be 
peculiarly  the  seed  of  the  woman,  by  whose  sacrifice 
a  real  satisfaction  would  be  made  for  sin,  and  by 
whose  obedience  a  perfect  righteousness  would  be 
provided  as  an  object  of  faith,  all,  from  Adam  down- 
wards, who  were  saved  at  all,  obtained  redemption. 
To  them,  in  every  generation,  the  Gospel  was 
preached  ;  and  the  great  fact  which  forms  the  Gos- 
pel, the  incarnation  and  sufferings  of  the  Son  of 
God,  was  held  out  to  them  as  the  one  grand  object 
of  their  faith.  By  this  faith  all  the  elders  or  patri- 
archs who  were  redeemed,  have  obtained  a  good 
report,  and  transmitted  a  name  to  posterity  which 


LECT.    HI.]  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE -GOSPEL.  255 

is  honourable  to  God,  and  honourable  to  themselves. 
This  faith  in  the  divine  promise  of  a  Saviour,  was 
to  them  the  substance  of  everything  they  hoped  for, 
and  the  sufficient  evidence  of  the  truth  of  these 
promised  blessings,  although  they  were  things  not 
seen.  Since  the  world  began,  God  hath  spoken  to 
men  by  his  holy  prophets  of  the  coming  of  the  one 
Redeemer,  who  is  all  our  joy  and  all  our  salvation. 

2.  After  we  have  thus  traced  the  publication  of 
the  Gospel  from  Adam  down  to  Abraham,  there 
will  be  no  difficulty  in  understanding  and  acknowl- 
edging its  clear  and  full  revelation  to  him.  The 
Apostle  Paul  says,  that  God  preached  the  Gospel 
unto  Abraham,  in  that  gracious  promise,  ''  In  thee 
shall  all  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  The 
single  object  for  which  Abraham  was  called,  and 
for  wiiich  his  family  were  separated  from  all  others 
was,  that  the  promised  Saviour  might  be  made  a 
more  particular  object  of  faith,  as  coming  from  him. 
To  him,  in  a  new  and  more  specific  manner,  the 
covenant  of  grace  was  revealed ;  and  the  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision was  instituted  as  the  outward  sign  of  that 
covenant  established  with  his  family.  To  former 
patriarchs  God  had  preached  the  Gospel,  in  pro- 
claiming a  Saviour  who  was  to  come  as  the  sinner's 
only  hope.  To  Abraham  he  preached  the  same 
Gospel  yet  more  clearly,  in  promising  a  Saviour  to 
come  particularly  from  his  posterity.  The  glad 
tidings  of  a  sufficient  Mediator  were  clearly  made 
known  to  him  ;  and  his  faith  in  the  promises  of  the 
Gospel  was  so  established  and  entire,  that  our  Sav- 
iour says  of  him,  "  he  saw  my  day,  and  was  glad." 
By  faith  in  a  coming  Redeemer  he  was  justified  and 
saved.    And  the  faith  which  he  had  in  Christ,  the 


256  THE   HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    III. 

sure  confidence  with  which  he  relied  upon  his  media- 
tion and  offering,  are  repeatedly  adduced  in  the  New 
Testament,  as  illustrating  the  faith  with  which  we 
are  required  to  embrace  a  Saviour  who  has  finished 
the  work  which  was  given  him  to  do,  and  has  gone 
to  the  glory  which  he  had  before  the  world  was. 

To  Isaac  the  covenant  of  God's  mercy  was  re- 
newed, and  the  promised  Saviour  foretold,  as  coming 
from  his  posterity  ;  and  to  Jacob,  still  more  clearly 
was  the  Gospel  preached,  while  Esau  and  his  family 
were  rejected.  In  the  ladder  which  was  presented 
to  Jacob,  as  connecting  together  earth  and  heaven 
by  the  ministration  of  angels,  an  incarnate  Saviour 
was  offered  to  his  faith.  An  open  way  of  salvation 
was  thus  exhibited  to  him  in  vision,  while  in  the 
very  time  of  the  exhibition,  God  renewed  that  gra- 
cious promise  of  a  Redeemer  from  his  seed,  upon 
which  the  faith  of  his  fathers  had  rested. 

Another  most  remarkable  proclamation  of  the 
manifestation  of  God  in  the  flesh  for  man's  salvation 
was  given  to  Jacob  in  his  wrestling  with  God,  and 
prevailing  in  the  contest,  after  his  return  from  Padan 
Aram.  Here  was  a  representation  to  his  faith  of 
the  whole  scene  of  Christ's  humiliation  ;  God  was 
shewn  to  him  as  dwelling  indeed  upon  the  earth, 
and  subjecting  himself  to  the  power  of  his  creatures ; 
and  the  all-important  fact,  that  there  was  a  way  in 
which  man  might  prevail  with  God  and  obtain  a 
blessing,  was  established  in  his  mind.  So  frequently 
had  the  covenant  of  promise  been  renewed  and  con- 
firmed with  Jacob,  that  his  faith  rested  upon  a  Sav- 
iour with  remarkable  distinctness  and  comfort.  And 
when  upon  his  bed  of  death,  he  left  his  last  blessing 
to  his  sons,  the  most  precious  and  desirable  of  all 


LECT.    III.]  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  257 

blessings,  a  Saviour  from  sin,  he  bequeathed  to  them 
also.  One  of  the  clearest  predictions  of  the  time 
and  of  the  success  of  the  publication  of  the  Gospel, 
which  the  Old  Testament  contains,  is  the  last  bless- 
ing of  Jacob  to  his  son  Judah. 

To  Adam,  the  promise  of  a  Saviour  .was  given  in 
the  general  expression,  "the  seed  of  the  woman." 
To  Noah  it  was  annexed  to  the  descendants  of  Shem. 
To  Abraham  it  was  limited  to  his  posterity  by  Isaac. 
To  Isaac  it  was  confined  again  to  Jacob ;  and  when 
by  Jacob  it  was  transmitted  to  his  children,  the 
descendants  of  Judah  were  selected  as  those  from 
whom  Christ  should  come.  Judah  was  to  be  the 
ruler  of  Israel  in  the  person  of  David  and  his  suc- 
cessors on  the  throne.  And  "  the  sceptre  shall  not 
depart  from  Judah,"  said  the  dying  Jacob,  "  nor  a 
lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come, 
and  to  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be." 
Thus  the  light  of  the  Gospel  shone  more  brightly 
in  every  succeeding  age,  as  the  time  drew  nearer  in 
which  all  its  promises  were  to  be  fulfilled,  and  its 
covenanted  Mediator  was  to  be  manifested  among 
men. 

3.  After  this  period  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  trace 
the  history  of  the  publication  of  the  Gospel.  From 
the  time  of  Moses  the  whole  Scriptures  are  full 
of  the  revelations  of  Gospel  mercy.  Every  sacri- 
fice in  the  tabernacle  or  temple  ;  every  type  of  the 
Jewish  institutions ;  every  prophecy  and  promise 
of  succeeding  generations  preached  Christ  to  the 
faith  of  men.  The  wonderful  visit  for  the  purpose 
of  redemption,  which  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  was  to 
make  to  the  earth,  in  the  fulness  of  his  appointed 
time,  was   unceasingly  proclaimed.      The  tide  of 


258  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    III. 

prophecy  swells  from  age  to  age,  until  in  the  time 
of  Isaiah,  it  has  grown  into  an  unlimited  flood  ;  and 
the  Gospel  is  hardly  preached  with  more  clearness 
and  power  by  St.  Paul  than  by  him.  From  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world  Jesus  was  made  the  one  great 
object  of  faith  ;  and  the  predictions  of  his  character 
and  office  are  multiplied,  until  his  time  and  place  of 
birth,  his  miracles  and  instructions,  his  sufferings 
and  the  manner  of  his  death,  his  resurrection  and 
subsequent  ascension  to  glory,  are  spoken  of  so  par- 
ticularly and  so  minutely,  that  the  language  of  the 
later  prophets,  appears  to  be  rather  a  history  of 
wiiat  is  past,  than  a  prophecy  of  what  is  yet  to 
come. 

From  this  history  of  the  Gospel,  you  see  that  the 
sinner's  ground  of  hope  has  been  the  same  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world.  The  same  Jesus  who  is 
preached  to  you  for  your  acceptance,  was  preached 
to  men  from  Adam  down  to  Moses,  and  from  Moses 
to  the  day  in  which  we  live.  No  child  of  man  has 
ever  passed  into  the  heavens  but  through  his  re- 
demption. His  offering  was  equally  availing  and 
prevalent  for  Adam  and  Abel  and  ourselves.  By 
his  own  obedience  no  man  has  ever  found  accept- 
ance before  God.  But  the  same  Almighty  grace 
which  has  rescued  the  believing  sinners  in  this  con- 
gregation, brought  the  first  ransomed  sinner  to  glory, 
and  every  other  one  since  his  time.  We  offer  no 
new  commandment  unto  you,  hut  that  command- 
ment which  has  been  from  the  beginning,  that  you 
should  believe  on  him  who  has  been  set  up  from 
everlasting,  as  the  one  Mediator  between  God  and 
man,  in  whose  blood  alone  there  is  redemption  for 
your  souls,  even  the  forgiveness  of  your  sins. 


LECT.    III.]  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  259 

II.  How  elevated  is  the  view  which  this  subject 
presents  of  the  character  of  our  Saviour  Christ! 
His  love  how  wonderfbl,  that  interposed  for  man  in 
the  moment  of  his  transgression,  when  there  was  no 
arm  that  could  save,  and  there  seemed  no  possibility 
of  finding  any  expedient  by  w^hicli  the  apparently 
inevitable  punishment  of  sin  could  be  turned  aside. 
How^  great  the  power  which  has  been  exercised  to 
accomplish  this  work  of  redemption  in  every  age. 
Angels  who  have  witnessed  from  the  beginning  his 
labours  of  love,  know  how  worthy  he  is  to  receive 
blessing,  and  honour  and  glory  for  w^hat  he  has  done, 
and  they  gladly  unite  to  praise  him  for  all  his  good- 
ness, and  all  his  mercy.  Unnumbered  multitudes 
of  ransomed  saints  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  glory 
which  he  has  purchased,  ascribe  all  the  praise  for 
their  redemption  unto  him.  He  is  the  head  of  all 
things  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  and  all  living  beings 
live  through  him.  To  the  once  crucified  and  now 
exalted  Jesus,  the  universe,  which  is  upheld  by  the 
word  of  his  power,  unites  to  render  its  thankful 
homage. 

How  unspeakable  is  the  privilege  which  this  sub- 
ject presents  to  the  true  believer  in  Jesus  Christ ! 
The  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  united  by  an 
everlasting  bond  to  the  glorious  assembly  who  have 
been  redeemed  through  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God. 
The  Redeemer  has  but  one  church.  Angels,  and 
living  saints,  and  dead,  but  one  communion  make. 
The  innumerable  company  of  angels  are  subjected 
unto  him.  -The  ransomed  believers  in  his  power, 
from  righteous  Abel  down  to  this  day,  are  partakers 
of  his  glory;  and  to  this  holy  and  heavenly  assem- 
bly, the  weakest  believer  on  earth  is  eternally  united. 


260  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    III. 

The  poorest  Christian  in  the  world  is  the  constant 
subject  of  angelic  protection  and  care.  And  though 
men  may  despise  him,  the  hosts  of  heaven  dehght 
to  watch  over  him,  to  minister  to  his  wants,  to  con- 
sole his  sorrows,  to  defend  him  from  dangers,  and  to 
bring  him  to  the  salvation  of  which  he  is  made  an 
heir.  How  delightful  is  the  thought  that  we  are 
never  alone !  In  all  our  afflictions  we  have  a  great 
High  Priest  whom  angels  worship  ;  who  can  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  and  re- 
members whereof  we  are  made.  In  our  seasons  of 
bodily  suffering  or  family  distress,  in  our  periods  of 
earthly  adversity  and  want,  he  will  be  a  present 
and  all-sufficient  help.  When  the  shades  of  death 
are  gathering  around  us,  he  will  stand  by  us  to  al- 
leviate our  distress  and  to  elevate  our  hope.  He 
will  pass  with  us  through  the  dark  valley  that  we 
may  be  in  perfect  peace.  In  the  great  day  of  judg- 
ment he  will  own  us  amidst  assembled  worlds,  as 
the  satisfying  travail  of  his  soul.  He  will  proclaim 
to  the  universe  that  we  are  the  jewels  whom  he  has 
purchased  for  himself,  and  over  whom  he  will  re- 
joice forever.  He  will  accept  us,  poor  and  worth- 
less as  we  are,  freely  through  the  value  of  his  own 
blood,  and  crown  us  with  everlasting  glory  in  hea- 
ven. How  unspeakable  is  the  privilege  of  being 
united  to  the  whole  company  of  the  redeemed, 
through  the  precious  and  all-sufficient  offering  which 
is  published  to  us  in  the  Gospel !  And  this  privi- 
lege belongs  to  every  one  who  has  sought  a  refuge 
in  the  precious  blood  of  a  divine  and  mighty  Sav- 
iour. 

How  amazing  is  the  conduct  of  those  who  perse- 


LECT.  III.]  THE'  HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  261 

vere  in  rejecting  the  mercies  which  this  Gospel  pre- 
sents to  universal  acceptance !  With  what  unut- 
terable joy  Adam  must  have  heard  of  a  hope  of 
returning  peace  7  With  what  transport  Abel  must 
have  taken  possession  of  that  home  of  glory  to  which 
he  was  carried  so  suddenly  from  the  trials  of  the 
world !  And  why  should  any  of  you,  who  need  a 
Saviour  as  much  as  they,  and  to  whom  the  bless- 
ings of  redemption  are  as  freely  offered  as  they  were 
to  them,  take  upon  yourselves  the  voluntary  and 
persevering  rejection  of  all  that  Christ  has  done  in 
your  behalf  How  much  you  w^ill  desire  to  see  one 
of  the  days  of  the  Son  of  Man  when  the  wish  will 
be  entirely  vain !  It  is  a  fact  with  the  unconverted 
sinner, — despise  the  assertion  of  it  as  he  will, — that 
the  hour  will  come,  when,  trembling  and  astonished, 
he  will  crouch  before  the  Son  of  Man,  and  beg  and 
cry  for  the  mercy  which  he  has  so  often  cast  heed- 
lessly away.  How  amazing  is  it  that  the  man  who 
knows  that  death,  and  judgment  and  eternity  are 
spread  before  him,  should  be  willing  to  throw  away 
a  hope,  the  sufficiency  of  w^hich  he  acknowledges, 
while  he  has  nothing  to  supply  its  place  upon  which 
he  dare  trust  himself.  And  yet  this  is  the  conduct 
of  every  unconverted  soul  before  me.  There  is  not 
a  man  here,  destitute  of  spiritual  religion,  with  a 
heart  unrenewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  is  reject- 
ing what  he  knows  to  be  a  sufficient  hope,  while 
the  rejection  of  this  hope  leaves  his  soul  utterly 
without  comfort  and  peace.  How  amazing  in  the 
sight  of  angels  must  be  this  course !  They  won- 
dered when  mercy  was  proposed  to  man.  They 
must  wonder  still  more  when  this  mercy  is  again 


262  THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    III. 

offered,  after  it  has  been  rejected.  They  must  won- 
der most  of  all,  if  sinners  still  persevere  in  this  re- 
jection, and  finally  determine  to  choose  darkness 
rather  than  light. 


LECTURE  IV. 

THE  WISDOM  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

We  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,  even  the  hidden  wisdom  which 
God  ordained  before  the  world  unto  our  glory. — 1  Corinthians,  ii.  7. 

The  object  which  the  Gospel  is  to  attain,  the  icay 
in  which  it  is  to  attain  it,  and  the  history  of  its  at- 
tainment of  this  object  in  past  ages,  have  occupied 
our  attention  in  three  former  discourses.  I  wish 
now  to  speak  of  the  several  characteristics  of  the 
Gospel  itself,  as  a  dispensation  of  divine  grace  and 
mercy  to  man  ;  to  shew  its  unsearchable  icisdmn]  as 
an  expedient  for  man's  salvation  ;  its  almighty  jioiver' 
as  an  instrument  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  end ; 
the  grace  and  love  which  are  displayed  in  the  gift 
which  it  offers  unto  man,  and  its  excellency  and  glory ^ 
as  a  revelation  of  the  character  and  purposes  of  God 
in  his  relation  to  fallen  man. 

My  present  subject  is  the  unsearchable  icisdom  of 
God,  as  displayed  in  the  Gosjoel^  as  an  expedient  or 
plan  for  man^s  salvation. 

The  text  which  I  have  selected  contains  St.  Paul's 
description  of  this  wisdom,  as  proclaimed  by  him 
and  liis  fellow^  apostles.  When  he  carried  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  to  the  enlightened  and  philosophical 
inhabitants  of  Corinth,  he  was  aware  that  they 
sought  after  wisdom,  and  expected  him  to  develope 
to  them  some  new  scheme   of  philosophy  which 


264  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    IV. 

should  furnish  matter  for  their  own  speculations. 
In  opposition  to  this  desire  of  theirs,  he  professes  to 
them  the  single  determination  with  which  he  came 
to  them,  which  was  to  make  known  to  perishing 
transgressors,  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,  as  the 
only  foundation  for  hope  or  acceptance  before  God. 
This  preaching  rejected  all  the  enticing  words  of 
man's  wisdom  ;  all  the  false  and  delusive  words  of 
persuasion  with  which  other  teachers  were  accus- 
tomed to  come  to  them  ;  and  depended  for  its  whole 
success,  upon  the  demonstration  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
and  the  power  of  God.  He  did  not  attempt  to  flat- 
ter them  upon  their  own  powers  of  understanding, 
nor  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  their  natural  and 
darkened  reasons,  the  truth  which  he  was  sent  to 
teach.  He  told  them  of  their  sins  and  dangers,  and 
he  held  out  to  them  freely  the  remedy  which  divine 
grace  had  provided  for  their  wants.  Such  preach- 
ing, which  dealt  only  with  men  as  poor  and  depraved 
creatures,  which  addressed  them  from  an  eminence 
of  authority,  as  those  who  were  lost,  was  regarded 
by  them  as  foolishness,  and  their  proud  hearts  de- 
spised him.  for  the  bold  assertions  which  he  made  of 
the  necessity  of  man,  and  of  the  abundant  mercy  of 
God.  But  though  he  has  often  adopted  their  own 
scornful  expression,  and  called  the  preaching  of  the 
cross  of  Jesus  foolishness,  he  denies  that  such  was 
really  the  character  of  his  preaching.  "  We  speak 
wisdom,"  he  says,  "  among  them  that  are  perfect," 
or  able  to  understand  us,  "  yet  not  the  wisdom  of 
this  world  ;"  no  wisdom  of  man's  discovery.  ''  But 
we  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery;  the 
wisdom  which  has  been  hidden,  but  which  God  or- 
dained before  the  world  to  our  glory." 


LECT.  IV.J  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  265 

The  apostle  here,  as  in  many  other  places,  calls 
the  Gospel  the  "  wisdom  of  God."  He  describes  it 
as  wisdom  which  reveals  such  things  as  eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the  heart  of  man  con- 
ceived ;  as  wisdom  which  is  revealed  to  man  solely 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  Spirit  which  searcheth  all 
things,  even  the  deep  things  of  God,  and  which  the 
natural  or  unrenewed  man  cannot  discern  or  under- 
stand. "  We  speak,"  he  says,  in  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel, "  the  wisdom  of  God." 

This  display  of  Divine  Wisdom,  which  the  Gos- 
pel makes,  has  before  been  ''hidden  in  a  mystery." 
It  was  not  clearly  revealed  until  the  preaching  of 
Jesus  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light.  It  was 
concealed  in  the  types  of  the  Jewish  religion,  and  in 
the  predictions  of  the  Jewish  prophets  ;  and  so  hid- 
den in  the  mysterious  representations  of  the  Old 
Testament,  that  none  of  the  princes  or  wise  men 
of  this  world  knew  it;  but  in  their  ignorance  of  it, 
crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  But  although  the  wis- 
dom displayed  in  the  Gospel  was  hidden  in  a  mys- 
tery, before  its  perfect  revelation  in  the  coming  and 
sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  it  was  wisdom  ordained 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world.  The  whole  plan 
of  bringing  from  among  men  many  sons  to  glory, 
through  the  sufferings  of  the  Captain  of  their  salva- 
tion, was  devised  and  determined  before  the  crea- 
tion of  man ;  and  the  Gospel  which  Paul  preached 
and  which  we  preach,  is  but  the  intelligence  of  that 
plan  of  mercy  which  God  ordained  then  for  man, 
as  a  manifestation  of  the  unfathomable  depths  of  his 
own  wisdom.  From  this  declaration  of  the  apos- 
tle I  derive  my  present  subject  of  discourse.  The 
Gospel  displays  the  unsearchable  wisdom  of  Grod, 

12 


266  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.  IV. 

which  ordained  a  plan  of  salvation  and  glory  for 
sinners  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  con- 
cealed it  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Old  Testament 
until  he  came,  in  whom  all  these  mysteries  were  to 
be  fulfilled  and  made  plain. 

I.  The  Gospel  displays  the  wisdom  of  God,  in  a 
consideration  of  the  peculiar  difficulties  which  it  was 
required  to  meet.  In  this  view  it  may  well  be  called 
the  "  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,"  for  the  extent 
of  wisdom  displayed  is  deeply  mysterious.  In  the 
fall  and  disobedience  of  man,  so  many  difficulties, 
and  apparently  such  insurmountable  difficulties  were 
created,  that  all  hope  of  his  restoration  would  vseem 
impossible.  A  holy  being  had  become  a  polluted 
and  guilty  one.  How  should  he  be  restored  7  The 
holy  and  unbending  law  of  God  had  been  violated. 
How  should  the  breach  be  made  up  7  The  maj- 
esty and  faithfulness  of  an  all-powerful  God  had 
been  offended.  How  should  it  be  appeased  7  It 
will  be  remembered  that  these  questions  were  now 
agitated  for  the  first  time.  All  these  difficulties  had 
occurred  in  the  case  of  the  angels  who  had  sinned ; 
but  there  was  no  purpose  to  save  them,  and  there- 
fore there  was  no  necessity  to  ask,  in  their  case, 
how  the  difficulties  should  be  overcome ;  with  them 
sin  had  its  perfect  work,  and  the  wages  of  sin  was 
death.  In  the  case  of  man's  transgression  there 
was  a  previous  determination  to  save  them  from  the 
ruin  in  which  they  were  inv^olved,  and  the  demand 
for  wisdom  was  to  solve  the  way  in  which  it  should 
be  done.  We  will  suppose  for  a  moment  that  it 
had  been  left  to  man  to  devise  a  way  for  his  own 
restoration  to  the  divine  favour ;  or  that  every  cre- 
ated mind  had  been  consulted  by  him  for  that  end ; 


LECT.  IV.]  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  267 

and  can  you  conceive  that  any  way  would  have 
entered  into  the  thoughts  of  any  finite  heing,  But  an 
immediate  and  absolute  pardon,  by  a  single  sove- 
reign act  of  mercy  7  We  may  see  many  difficulties 
attending  such  an  exercise  of  mercy ;  and  whether 
it  would  have  been  at  all  consistent  with  the  honour 
of  God's  character,  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  us  to 
say.  None  but  God  can  know  what  it  is  within  the 
power  of  God  to  do.  But  we  may  safely  say,  even 
if  we  suppose  such  an  act  of  mercy,  under  existing 
circumstances,  j^ossible,  it  was  not  the  way  which 
would  the  most  highly  honour  the  character  of  God, 
nor  was  it  the  way  which  was  most  suited  to  the 
wants  of  the  occasion,  and  therefore  it  was  not  the 
way  which  a  God  of  infinite  wisdom  thought  best 
to  adopt.  Indeed,  while  I  say  we  may  see  many 
difficulties  attending  an  exercise  of  absolute  mercy, 
under  the  circumstances  of  man,  it  appears  to  me 
entirely  proper  to  say,  that  such  an  act  of  mercy 
would  have  been  impossible.  God,  who  delights  in 
mercy,  would  surely  have  spared  the  sufferings  of 
an  innocent  and  holy  Saviour,  had  the  salvation  of 
man  been  possible  without  their  endurance. 

How  great  was  the  difficulty  which  was  here  pre- 
sented !  and  what  wisdom  was  demanded  to  meet 
the  necessities  of  the  case !  Everything  in  the  case 
was  new.  Every  path  to  be  trodden  was  hitherto 
untried.  The  breach  which  sin  had  made  was 
infinitely  wide.  It  was  an  ocean  over  which  no 
created  intelligence  could  travel ;  and  the  redemp- 
tion of  a  single  soul  was  so  important  and  precious, 
that  so  far  as  men  or  angels  were  concerned,  it  must 
have  ceased  forever.  To  meet  this  infinite  demand ; 
to  make  up  all  the  difficulties  which  the  case  in- 


268  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.  IV. 

volved,  and  to  bring  God  and  man  together  across 
this  unmeasured  alienation,  was  required  in  the 
Gospel.  And  here  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  by  which 
it  proposes  to  accomplish  the  purpose  is  gloriously 
displayed.  When  all  created  minds  acknowledged 
that  the  case  was  hopeless,  God  brought  forward 
to  the  view  of  his  creatures  the  hidden  wisdom 
which  he  had  ordained  before  the  world.  He  thus 
exbited  new  views  of  his  manifold  wisdom.  He 
made  the  fall  of  man  an  occasion  of  manifesting 
more  clearly  his  own  glorious  perfections.  This 
was  his  purpose  and  design, — and  the  difficulty  in 
removing  man's  guilt,  and  restoring  a  ruined  world 
to  his  favour,  and  at  the  same  time  bringing  eternal 
glory  to  the  character  of  God,  was  met  and  an- 
swered in  the  abundant  provisions  of  the  Gospel. 
There  is  not  a  question  to  be  asked  in  reference  to 
man's  salvation,  which  the  Gospel  does  not  answer. 
It  abundantly  saves  the  sinner,  and  it  brings  the 
highest  glory  to  God. 

The  wisdom  of  the  Gospel  provisions  supplies  all 
your  wants.  It  makes  a  guilty  being  a  pardoned 
and  justified  one.  It  converts  a  polluted  and  defiled 
creature  into  a  holy  and  perfect  one.  It  satisfies  all 
the  demands  and  denunciations  of  the  law.  It  per- 
fectly compensates  the  offended  faithfulness  and 
majesty  of  the  Creator,  and  restores  man  to  God, 
and  reconciles  God  to  man.  The  difficulty  which 
existed  in  the  case  of  the  first  transgressor  remains 
in  the  case  of  every  other  sinner  to  be  converted 
unto  God ;  and  the  wisdom  of  the  Gospel  as  an  ex- 
pedient of  salvation,  is  displayed  in  meeting  and 
supplying  this  amazing  difficulty  whenever  a  sinner 
is  brought  home  to  God. 


LECT.  IV.]     THE  WISDOM  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  269 

II.  The  wisdom  of  the  Gospel  is  displayed  in  the 
manner'  in  which  it  glorifies  all  the  divine  attributes. 
While  it  manifests  abundant  mercy  on  the  part  of  the 
Great  Creator,  in  his  dealings  with  his  creatures, 
it  does  not  in  the  least  degree  compromise  any  other 
of  his  perfections  in  the  exercise  of  mercy.  If  you 
will  conceive  of  the  relation  in  which  man,  as  a  sinful 
being,  stood  towards  God,  you  will  see  how  all  the 
attributes  of  the  divine  character  were  at  war  with 
him.  God  had  given  him  a  law  in  the  hour  of  his 
creation,  and  had  bound  that  law  upon  him  in  the 
most  solemn  manner.  He  had  voluntarily  and  un- 
necessarily broken  that  law,  and  now,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  all  beings,  the  Creator  and  his  creature  were 
at  variance, — as  it  were,  in  an  awful  contest,  whether 
the  Creator  should  be  true  to  his  word,  in  the  pun- 
ishment and  destruction  of  the  creature,  or  the  crea- 
ture should  triumph  in  his  rebellion  over  the  in- 
stability of  his  God.  Angels  stopped  to  witness  the 
result.  Fallen  spirits  watched  the  progress  of  this 
conflict.  And  there  seemed  to  depend  upon  tlie 
issue,  the  one  momentous  question,  shall  God  be  the 
ruler  of  his  creatures  or  no  ? 

The  holiness  of  God  was  called  to  express  its 
abhorrence  of  sin,  as  it  had  done  before.  The  jus- 
tice of  God  was  called  to  execute  immediate  ven- 
geance on  those  who  had  committed  sin,  as  it  had 
done  upon  Lucifer  and  his  host.  The  truth  of  God 
was  called  to  fulfil  the  threatenings  which  had  been 
denounced  against  sin.  And  yet,  amidst  all  these 
difficulties,  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  had  de- 
termined the  whole  of  men  should  not  perish,  but 
some  of  them  should  have  everlasting  life.  If  the 
transgressor  should  receive  an  immediate  and  un- 


270  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    IV. 

conditional  pardon,  how  should  the  holiness  of  God 
be  displayed,  or  his  justice  honoured,  or  his  truth 
preserved  inviolate?  Shall  all  these  glorious  at- 
tributes be  despised  and  passed  over  utterly  un- 
heeded? The  character  of  God  is  glorious,  and 
must  be  glorified  in  the  salvation  of  man  ;  but  how 
it  should  be  so  glorified,  the  wisdom  of  men  and 
angels  could  never  determine.  No  means  had  been 
provided  for  the  restoration  of  fallen  angels,  and  no 
angel  could  tell  what  means  should  be  provided  for 
the  restoration  of  fallen  man.  The  attributes  of 
God  evidently  required  the  punishment  of  sin.  If 
the  idea  of  a  substitute  had  entered  into  any  created 
mind,  the  difficulty  was  at  once  seen,  how  can  an 
innocent  being  be  punished  for  the  guilty?  Can 
God  accept  a  substitute  7  Can  it  be  imagined  that 
he  would  inflict,  with  his  own  hand,  suflferings  be- 
longing to  the  guilty  upon  one  without  sin  ?  Here 
the  Gospel  displays  its  wisdom.  It  announces  a 
substitute  for  the  sinner.  It  exhibits  the  whole 
system  under  which  this  substitute  was  offered  and 
accepted. 

But  if  only  the  fact  that  a  substitute  would  be 
accepted  had  been  suggested,  all  creatures  might 
ask,  where  shall  one  be  found  who  can  bear  the 
punishment  deserved  by  the  millions  of  mankind  ? 
Were  all  the  angels  in  heaven  able  to  render  such  a 
service  to  a  single  man  ?  Could  any  one  less  than 
the  living  God  himself  undertake  such  a  work  ? 
Could  it  be  conceived  possible,  that  God  should  be 
willing  to  do  this  for  creatures  who  had  trampled 
upon  his  laws  ?  And  if  he  were  willing,  how  could 
it  be  done  ?  How  shall  God  endure  sufferings  for 
man  ?     How  shall  anything  which  he  thus  does  be 


LECT.  IV.]  THE    WISDOM    OF   THE    GOSPEL.  271 

put  to  man's  account  ?  And  if  God  were  willing  to 
become  man,  and  to  put  himself  in  the  place  of  man, 
and  to  do  and  suffer  what  man  was  bound  to  do  and 
suffer,  how  could  it  consist  with  the  holiness  and 
justice  of  God,  to  let  the  innocent  suffer  and  the 
guilty  go  free  7  yea,  to  let  the  innocent  suffer,  that 
the  guilty  might  go  free  7  The  more  we  enter  into 
the  consideration  of  these  things,  and  contemplate 
all  the  difficulties,  which  the  holy  attributes  of  God 
inevitably  threw  in  the  way  of  man's  recovery,  and 
the  impossibility  that  any  created  w^isdom  should 
devise  a  way  in  w^hich  they  could  be  reconciled,  we 
see  the  wisdom  of  the  Gospel  the  more  wonderfully 
displayed.  Here  divine  wisdom  interposes.  Here 
the  wisdom  ordained  in  the  councils  of  the  Eternal 
Trinity  before  the  world  began,  is  exhibited.  The 
intelligence  of  God's  own  determination  unravels 
every  obscurity  and  doubt,  and  throws  new  and  in- 
finite honour  upon  his  own  character. 

Behold  this  glorious  plan.  God's  co-equal,  co- 
eternal  Son,  shall  undertake  for  us.  A  body  shall 
be  given  him.  In  the  fulness  of  the  time  before  ap- 
pointed, he  shall  be  born  as  man.  As  the  substitute 
and  surety  for  our  souls,  he  shall  bear  our  burden 
of  sins  in  his  own  sacred  body  upon  the  cross.  By 
his  own  obedience  unto  death,  he  shall  work  out  an 
everlasting  righteousness,  commensurate  with  the 
utmost  claims  of  the  law  for  all  who  believe.  Thus 
every  attribute  of  God  shall  be  honoured,  and  God 
shall  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth 
in  Christ  Jesus.  Contemplate  this  "  wisdom  of  God 
in  a  mystery."  A  mediator !  That  mediator,  God ; 
that  God,  man !  That  Deity  incarnate,  suffering ! 
Those  sufferings  borne  in  the  stead  of  man  !     His 


272  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.  IV. 

whole  obedience  too  accepted  for  sinful  man,  and 
imputed  unto  him  !  Sinners  by  this  rescued  and 
reconciled  to  God  !  Sinners  so  reconciled,  restored 
to  the  divine  image,  approved  of  God,  justified  be- 
fore the  assembled  universe,  exalted  to  thrones  of 
endless  glory  !  and  all  this  in  perfect  consistency 
w^th  the  honour  of  God;  yea,  glorifying  in  the 
highest  degree,  the  divine  perfections.  This  is 
God's  plan  for  the  salvation  of  a  ruined  w^orld.  This 
is  the  intelligence  w^hich  the  Gospel  brings.  Surely 
in  the  contemplation  of  it  we  can  only  exclaim  witli 
the  apostle,  "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches  of  the  wis- 
dom and  knowledge  of  God  ;  how  unsearchable  are 
his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding  out !"  And 
with  him  also,  we  may  declare  in  reference  to  all 
who  are  ignorant  of  this  wisdom,  "  Eye  hath  not 
seen,  nor  ear  heard  ;  neither  have  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him."  Would  to  God  we  could 
all  say  also  with  him,  "  God  hath  revealed  them 
unto  us  by  his  Spirit,  that  we  might  know  the  things 
which  are  freely  given  to  us  of  God." 

III.  The  wisdom  of  the  Gospel  is  displayed  in  its 
perfect  adaptation  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  great 
purpose  which  it  designs.  The  mark  of  true  wisdom 
is  in  the  best  arrangement  of  means  to  obtain  a  de- 
sired end.  The  great  object  of  the  Gospel  is  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  w^hich  is  lost,  to  convert  sinners 
unto  God,  to  make  a  time  of  restitution  throughout 
the  world,  in  which  God  shall  return  to  bless  his 
creatures,  and  men  shall  return  to  submit  them- 
selves to  God.  It  operates  upon  a  lost  and  ruined 
world ;  and  from  it,  it  wishes  to  bring  many  sons 
unto  glory.     Its  wisdom  is  manifested  in  its  being 


LECT.    IV.]  THE    WISDOM    OP   THE    GOSPEL.  273 

perfectly  adapted  to  accomplish  this  whole  end. 
The  provisions  of  the  Gospel  are  the  evidence  and 
fruit  of  God's  reconciliation  to  man.  The  one  great 
offering  for  sin  which  it  presents  has  made  up  every 
breach,  has  taken  away  every  obstacle,  has  opened 
to  the  sinner  a  path  of  glory  and  blessedness.  God 
is  able  to  forgive  and  save  every  transgressor  on 
earth,  in  consistence  with  his  own  honour;  and 
therefore  as  our  last  head  shewed,  so  far  as  he  is 
concerned,  the  wisdom  of  the  Gospel  is  proclaimed, 
in  his  acknowledgment  that  it  is  sufficient,  and  that 
he  is  willing  that  all  should  be  saved  and  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  But  man  is  yet  alien- 
ated, and  must  be  brought  home  to  God ;  and  the 
Gospel  shews  the  wisdom  of  its  plan  in  its  perfect 
adaptation  to  the  great  end  of  converting  and  renew- 
ing him.  The  great  fact  of  the  Gospel,  the  incarna- 
tion and  sufferings  of  a  glorious  Saviour,  is  the  one 
great  instrument  of  good  to  the  rebel  sinner;  and 
the  continued  exhibition  of  this  one  great  fact  is  the 
means,  and  the  only  means,  of  bringing  back  to  God 
the  hearts  of  his  creatures. 

Take  the  instance  of  the  individual  sinner  con- 
verted unto  God,  and  what  has  produced  the  effect 
upon  him  which  is  so  manifest  7  He  was  dead  in 
his  sins  ;  cold,  heartless  and  unconcerned.  The  one 
object  then,  was  to  rouse  him  to  reflection,  and  to» 
produce  a  true  sorrow  for  sin  in  his  heart.  But 
what  could  do  it  ?  No  remonstrance  of  moral  pre- 
cepts, no  appeal  to  the  dominion  of  reason,  no  argu- 
ments founded  upon  his  own  ability  to  rise.  No. 
Had  these  beer,  all  the  instruments  employed,  he 
would  have  remained  eternally,  as  multitudes  do 
under  such  instruments,  a  dead  and  ruined  sinner. 


274  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    IV. 

But  he  heard  of  a  crucified  Jesus.  He  was  made  to 
look  upon  him  whom  he  had  pierced.  He  saw  an 
agony  and  bloody  sweat  drawn  out  by  his  transgres- 
sion. His  conscience  felt  and  owned  the  guilt.  A 
crucified  Jesus !  This  planted  thorns  in  his  pillow ; 
this  made  him  water  his  couch  with  his  tears ;  this 
agitated  his  breast  with  grief  and  anxiety.  The 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  exhibition  of  the  great 
fact  of  the  Gospel,  convinced  him  of  sin.  Ingrati- 
tude to  a  Saviour,  contempt  of  his  blood,  neglect  of 
a  soul  for  which  he  died,  filled  him  with  anguish, 
and  compelled  him  to  ask  forgiveness  from  him  who 
had  borne  his  sins  and  carried  his  iniquities.  In 
this  effect  the  wisdom  of  the  Gospel  was  displayed. 
It  awakened  and  convinced  a  sinner  who  could  re- 
sist everything  but  this  one  instrument  of  God.  It 
brought  down  into  the  dust  of  humiliation,  a  rebel 
who  could  harden  himself  against  every  other  in- 
strument and  power,  who  could  mock  at  all  other 
solicitations  as  the  horse  mocketh  at  the  battle. 
When  this  rebel  was  awakened,  convinced  and 
made  to  cry  out  in  the  bitterness  of  his  anguish,  the 
next  object  was  to  elevate  his  affections  to  God,  to 
bind  him  eternally  to  a  Saviour,  and  to  save  him 
from  going  back  to  the  captivity  of  Satan ;  but  no 
instrument  could  do  it  save  the  same  Gospel.  The 
same  great  fact  which  had  aroused  him,  gave  him 
peace.  It  was  not  the  moral  or  natural  perfections 
of  the  Deity  ;  it  was  not  the  beauty  of  his  service 
nor  the  holiness  of  his  habitation,  that  bound  his 
heart  to  heaven,  and  led  him  to  seek  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light.  It  was  a  bleeding  Lamb,  a 
suffering  Emmanuel,  a  Redeemer  crowned  with 
thorns,  that  took  away  the  anguish  of  conviction, 


LECT.  IV.]     THE  WISDOM  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  275 

gave  him  peace  in  believing,  and  filled  his  soul  with 
love  to  God.  He  was  made  alive  by  receiving 
Christ  to  live  in  him.  He  was  brought  to  glorify 
God  in  his  body  and  spirit  which  were  his,  by  feel- 
ing that  he  was  bought  with  a  price,  and  that  Jesus 
had  died  for  him.  The  life  he  now  lives  is  sus- 
tained by  the  Gospel  alone ;  and  being  made  one 
with  Christ,  through  a  cordial  acceptance  of  his  sal- 
vation, he  brings  forth  fruit  of  holiness  unto  God. 

This  has  been  the  one  course  of  proceeding  from 
the  beginning;  and  millions  of  rebellious  beings 
have  been  awakened,  convicted,  created  anew,  and 
bound  in  an  everlasting  covenant  to  God,  by  the 
operation  of  this  single  instrument  of  good.  Here 
the  Gospel  has  displayed  its  wisdom,  and  God  has 
been  infinitely  honoured  in  the  operation  of  this 
plan. 

This  is  not  the  wisdom  of  this  world.  It  appears 
to  be  foolishness  in  the  carnal  eye.  Unconverted 
men  can  see  no  beauty  in  Jesus,  no  reason  in  the 
simple  preaching  of  what  he  has  done,  no  connec- 
tion between  this  and  any  change  to  be  accom- 
plished in  the  human  character.  In  their  proud 
language  it  is  unphilosophical  and  absurd.  But  in 
spite  of  all  their  objections  and  contentions  and 
pride,  it  still  produces  the  effect  desired  when  no- 
thing else  can  do  it ;  and  thus  shews  itself  to  be  the 
wisdom  of  God,  though  from  the  men  of  this  world 
it  is  hidden  in  a  mystery.  The  apostles  went  out 
to  tell  the  simple  fact  of  the  crucifixion  and  exalta- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  sinners; 
and  though  all  the  wise  men  derided  them,  their 
preaching  made  multitudes  cry  out  together,  "  Men 
and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?"  and  added  multi- 


276  THE  WISDOM  OF  THE  GOSPEL.      [lECT.  IV. 

tudes  to  the  church  who  should  be  saved.  They 
feared  no  repetition;  they  expected  no  weariness; 
they  provided  for  no  love  of  change ;  they  ceased 
not  to  teach  and  to  preach  Jesus  Christ,  and  God 
confirmed  his  word  everywhere  by  its  glorious  re- 
sults. We  have  the  same  Gospel,  and  it  still  pro- 
duces the  same  effect.  Though  disputers  of  this 
world  still  deride,  the  more  exclusively  and  entirely 
we  preach  Jesus  Christ,  the  more  abundant  are 
the  effects  upon  the  hearts  and  characters  of  men. 
When  we  are  willing  to  trust  God's  wisdom,  and  to 
throw  ourselves  altogether  upon  the  great  fact  of 
the  Gospel,  to  preach,  not  ourselves, but  Jesus  Christ 
the  Lord,  we  are  blessed ;  sinners  are  awakened 
and  converted,  and  God  is  honoured  in  spite  of  all 
the  exclamations  of  proud  and  captious  men,  "  How 
can  these  things  be  ?" 

The  Gospel  is  the  only  possible  instrument  for 
this  end.  There  is  no  sinner  converted  but  by  its 
power ;  and  the  wisdom  of  God  is  thus  unceasingly 
displayed.  Every  song  in  heaven,  and  every  true 
prayer  and  thanksgiving  upon  earth,  unites  to  utter 
the  same  truth ;  we  are  washed  and  made  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb ;  and  mysterious  as  this  wis- 
dom is  to  the  princes  of  this  world,  it  is  wisdom  or- 
dained before  the  world  to  our  glory. 

These  three  views  display  the  wisdom  of  the 
Gospel  as  an  expedient  for  man's  salvation ;  in  the 
difficulty  which  it  meets,  in  the  glory  which  it  brings 
to  God,  and  in  its  adaptation  to  produce  the  end 
which  it  designs ;  "  We  speak  the  wisdom  of  God 
in  a  mystery,  even  the  hidden  wisdom,  which  God 
ordained  before  the  world  to  our  glory." 

IV.  How  vain  are   the   objections  which   men 


LECT.  IV.]  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  277 

make  to  this  system  of  grace  and  salvation!  This 
is  God's  plan.  It  is  marked  with  the  wisdom  of 
his  character.  It  has  glorified  him  in  an  amazing 
degree,  in  the  effect  which  it  has  produced  through- 
out the  world.  Though  many  of  you  may  see  no 
reason  in  this  system,  and  may  persuade  yourselves 
to  believe  that  there  is  something  in  it  which  is  con- 
trary to  your  reason,  rest  assured,  if  you  will  throw 
yourselves  with  faith  upon  it,  you  will  find  it  to 
be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  your  souls. 
You  have  not  a  want  w^iich  it  will  not  supply.  It 
will  meet  your  whole  necessities.  It  will  abun- 
dantly answer  your  prayers. 

This  is  the  true  and  proper  test  of  the  fitness  and 
wisdom  of  the  Gospel ;  the  test  of  experience.  Try 
this  system.  Taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  gracious. 
To  this  point  would  I  lead  your  affections  and  plans. 
I  cannot  stop  to  argue  about  the  externals  of  this 
plan  before  the  tribunal  of  man's  wisdom.  You 
may  be  speculatively  believers,  while  you  are  prac- 
tically unbelievers.  You  can  know  nothino^  of  the 
wisdom  or  the  fitness  of  the  Go.spel,  unless  you  are 
willing  to  receive  it  and  try  it  under  the  shape  in 
which  it  comes  to  you,  as  a  remedy  for  your  dis- 
eased and  ruined  souls.  If  you  are  willing  to  be 
convinced  of  your  necessities  ;  if  you  are  ready  to 
acknowledge  that  you  have  deep  and  fatal  spiritual 
wants,  and  are  willing  to  lay  yourselves  down  as  a 
free  offering  before  the  feet  of  a  crucified  Saviour, 
this  Gospel  will  tell  you  all  you  can  desire  to  know, 
and  give  you  all  you  can  need  to  possess. 

Your  blinded  reasons  may  urge  a  thousand  ques- 
tions which  God  has  not  answered,  and  w^hich  man 
cannot  answer,  about  this  heavenly  system;   and 


278  THE    WISDOM    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  [lECT.    IV 

you  may  be  persuaded  to  say,  I  cannot  accept  it  be- 
cause I  cannot  understand  it.  This  is  no  fair  or 
accurate  test  of  any  remedy  for  evil.  Go  with  a 
deep  conviction  that  you  are  guilty,  and  deserve 
condemnation;  that  you  are  ruined,  and  have  no 
help.  Go  with  a  penitent  and  sorrowful  spirit,  in 
remembrance  of  your  sin,  looking  upon  the  load  you 
have  heaped  upon  a  dying  friend.  Go  with  the  lan- 
guage of  unfeigned  humiliation,  with  a  sincere  de- 
sire to  obtain  pardon  and  peace  in  the  relation  be- 
tween your  soul  and  God.  Go  thus  to  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  and  ask  for  the  remedy  which  he  bestows. 
If  then,  you  are  sent  back  empty,  if  you  find  that 
the  Gospel  can  do  nothing  for  you,  that  your  load 
of  guilt  is  unremoved,  and  your  souls  have  no  peace 
with  God,  then  may  you,  with  much  greater  show 
of  reason,  pronounce  upon  the  unfitness  of  the  Gos- 
pel to  answer  your  necessity.  But  until  you  have 
tried  and  found  the  trial  vain,  you  cannot  with  the 
least  propriety,  urge  a  single  objection  to  the  terms 
and  operation  of  the  Gospel. 

Are  you  willing  to  make  this  trial?  Are  you 
ready  to  test  by  experience,  the  sufficiency  of  Christ? 
He  invites  you ;  he  advises  you ;  he  warns  you ;  he 
encourages  you ;  he  entreats  you  all,  to  submit  your 
wills,  your  desires,  your  characters,  to  him ;  and  by 
his  Spirit  he  will  enable  you  to  know  and  under- 
stand the  things  which  are  freely  given  you  of  God ; 
and  this  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  shall  furnish  you 
a  salvation  that  can  be  obtained  by  no  other  instru- 
ment or  method. 


LECTURE   V. 

THE  POWER  OP  THE  GOSPEL  TO  SAVE. 

I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Grospel  of  Christ,  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth.— Romans  i.  16. 

Attempts  to  discredit  and  oppose  the  preaching 
and  influence  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  have  attended 
its  progress  in  every  age.  When  inspired  apostles 
proclaimed  its  saving  truths,  they  were  in  no  degree 
more  acceptable  to  sinful  men  than  they  are  now. 
To  the  self-righteous  Jews,  the  Gospel  was  a  stum- 
bling block,  because  it  conceded  nothing  to  the  merit 
of  human  w^orks.  By  the  conceited  Greek  it  was 
accounted  foolishness,  because  it  paid  no  deference  to 
the  arrogant  claims  of  human  reason.  It  was  in- 
conceivable to  those  who  confided  entirely  in  their 
own  wisdom  and  strength  to  do  good,  that  the  change 
of  the  whole  character,  and  the  salvation  of  the  soul 
of  man,  should  be  effected  by  means  apparently  so 
unsuited  to  the  end.  Accordingly  they  opposed  and 
derided  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  as  the  tale 
of  babblers,  and  the  fancy  of  an  uneducated  sect. 
But  what  then  ?  Because  wicked  men  deride,  shall 
apostles  shrink  and  be  silent  7  St.  Paul  avows  a 
purpose  far  from  this.  In  the  face  of  all  opposition 
and  of  all  reproach,  he  declares  himself  not  ashamed 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  because  it  would  prove  to 


280  POWER    OP    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [lECT.    V. 

be,  as  it  was  designed  to  be,  the  appointed  and  suc- 
cessful instrument  of  the  power  of  God,  for  the  sal- 
vation of  mankind.  Infidelity  might  scorn  its  in- 
fluence. But  faith  would  reap  the  glorious  benefits 
which  it  conferred. 

*'  The  Gospel  of  Christ"  is  the  intelligence  of 
what  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
has  done  for  the  salvation  of  man.  It  is  the  history 
of  the  advent,  incarnation  and  death  of  God's  dear 
Son  as  a  Saviour  for  sinners,  and  the  offer  to  them 
of  all  the  blessed  results  of  his  work  of  merit  and 
grace.  It  announces  God  as  reconciled  to  man  in 
the  death  of  his  Son, — and  by  the  influence  of  this 
intelligence,  it  persuades  men  by  the  power  of  the 
Spirit,  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  This  is  God's  ap- 
pointed instrument,  and  the  power  of  God,  for  the 
salvation  of  those  who  believe.  This  is  the  subject 
to  which  I  would  call  your  attention  in  this  dis- 
course ;  the  Gospel  of  Christ  the  manifestation  of  di- 
vine poicer  in  the  salvation  of  mankind.  It  is  a  sub- 
ject so  glorious,  that  we  may  well  unite  with  the 
apostle  as  we  consider  it,  in  the  assertion,  ''  I  am 
not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  We  may 
regard  this  manifestation  of  divine  power,  under  the 
two  aspects,  of  the  work  which  God  has  accom- 
plished for  us,  by  the  meritorious  obedience  and 
death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, — and  the  work 
"which  he  accomplishes  in  us  by  the  renewing  oper- 
ations of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

I.  The  Gospel  manifests  the  power  of  God,  in  the 
revelation  which  it  makes  of  lohat  God  has  done  for 
us  by  the  obedience  and  death  of  his  dear  Son. 

As  transgressors  against  God,  the  law  held  us  in 
bondage,  kept  us  under  condemnation,  and  bound 


LECT.  v.]     POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  SAVE.  281 

US  over  to  endure  the  wages  of  sin  in  everlasting 
death.  We  were  wholly  without  hope,  because  we 
were  without  power  to  satisfy  the  law,  and  break 
the  bondage  wherein  we  were  held.  But  this  bon- 
dage God  has  broken  by  the  gift  of  his  own  Son. 
He  has  been  set  forth  in  the  suffering  nature  of  man, 
as  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.  He  has  thus  re- 
leased us  from  condemnation,  and  provided  a  sacri- 
fice and  offering  which  meets  every  penalty  of  the 
law,  and  gives  a  new  and  glorious  hope  to  all  who 
are  ready  to  come  unto  God  through  him.  In  the 
obedience  which  the  Lord  Jesus  has  thus  rendered 
to  the  law,  and  the  satisfaction  which  he  has  made 
to  its  demands,  he  has  silenced  all  its  denunciations, 
and  opened  a  new  and  certain  way  of  life  to  the 
guilty ;  and  the  Gospel,  in  proclaiming  this  wonder- 
ful provision  of  divine  mercy,  becomes  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  those  who  believe.  But  re- 
lease from  condemnation  is  not  all  we  need.  We 
must  have  also  a  title  to  glory,  a  right  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  And  this  can  only  be  the  re- 
sult of  a  perfect  and  unspotted  obedience  of  divine 
commands.  Here  also,  the  power  of  God  interposes, 
and  the  Gospel  proclaims  the  work.  In  the  obedi- 
ence which  the  Saviour  has  rendered  to  those  com- 
mands which  are  holy,  just,  and  good,  and  which 
cannot  be  annulled,  he  has  brought  in  an  everlast- 
ing righteousness  for  all  who  believe  in  him.  By 
his  obedience  the  law  is  magnified,  and  many  whom 
it  condemned  are  made  righteous.  In  this  perfect 
offering  of  obedience  God  displays  his  power  to  save. 
He  can  justly  exercise  loving  kindness  to  those  who 
were  condemned  to  death,  and  can  raise  the  prisoner 
from  the  dungeon  to  set  him  upon  the  throne ;  and 


282  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [lECT.    V. 

in  the  very  act  of  his  release  can  honour  the  law 
which  held  him  in  condemnation. 

Again,  as  fallen  beings,  Satan  held  us  in  captivity 
— we  were  under  the  power  of  the  god  of  this  world, 
and  he  exercised  over  the  hearts  and  habits  of  all,  a 
ruinous  dominion.  But  from  this  power  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  has  rescued  us.  He  has  overcome  him 
that  had  the  power  of  death.  When  he  hung  bleed- 
ing upon  the  cross,  and  was,  to  the  view  of  the  igno- 
rant, himself  subdued  and  destroyed,  he  triumphed 
over  Satan,  spoiled  principalities  and  powers  of 
darkness,  and  made  a  show  of  his  conquest  openly. 
And  by  the  proclamation  of  this  one  great  fact,  that 
Christ  Jesus  died  upon  the  cross  for  sinners,  the 
Gospel  has  been  the  instrument  of  overthrowing 
the  kingdom  of  Satan  in  every  age,  and  setting  up 
the  empire  of  the  Son  of  God  upon  the  earth. 

Thus  the  power  of  God  is  manifested  by  the 
Gospel  in  its  revelation  of  what  God  hath  done  f(yr 
us  by  his  Son.  The  influence  of  this  work  is  dis- 
played in  heaven,  in  the  acceptance  there,  of  this 
sufficiency  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  his  offering 
for  sinners ;  in  his  prevailing  intercession  as  our 
great  High  Priest ;  and  in  the  continual  crowning 
of  the  subjects  of  his  redemption  for  his  sake.  It 
is  exhibited  on  earth,  in  the  increasing  testimony 
which  is  borne  to  the  glorious  redemption  that  has 
thus  been  finished  ;  in  the  providence  which  causes 
all  things  to  work  together  for  the  salvation  of  those 
whom  it  has  purchased ;  in  the  continual  progress 
of  the  truth,  in  its  conquest  over  darkness  and  er- 
ror ;  in  the  converting  and  justifying  of  multitudes 
of  sinners,  and  giving  their  guilty  consciences  peace 
with  God;  in  the  glorious  triumphs  which  it  ac- 


LECT.  v.]     POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  SAVE.  283 

complishes  for  them  over  death,  and  the  abundant 
entrance  which  it  gives  them  to  an  eternal  glory. 
It  is  manifested  in  hell,  in  the  restraint  v^^hich  has 
been  put  upon  the  power  of  Satan  ;  in  the  limits 
which  it  affixes  to  his  designs  of  malice ;  in  the  sub- 
jection which  it  compels  him  to  acknowledge  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  head  over  all ;  and  in  the 
triumphs  which  it  is  daily  attaining  on  earth,  by 
the  ransom  of  men  from  the  grasp  of  his  power. 
Throughout  the  universe,  the  Gospel  thus  proclaims 
the  power  of  God,  as  manifested  in  the  salvation  of 
men.  It  opens  a  satisfaction  and  righteousnes#suf- 
ficient  for  the  whole  world.  It  provides  a  new  and 
living  w^ay  to  God,  for  every  sinner  who  will  receive 
it.  It  thus  restores  a  lost  world  to  God,  against 
whom  they  had  rebelled.  And  declares  the  whole 
work  of  merit  in  their  behalf,  as  complete  in  the 
obedience  unto  death  of  the  Great  Captain  of  their 
salvation. 

II.  The  Gospel  manifests  the  power  of  God,  in 
its  exhibition  of  the  icork  ichich  God  accomplishes 
icithin  uSj  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

1.  Take  a  view  of  this  exhibition  of  divine  power, 
as  it  has  been  given,  upon  the  immense  scale,  which 
the  past  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ  presents. 
Reflect  upon  the  whole  progress  of  the  Gospel  in 
the  world,  and  upon  the  innumerable  multitudes  of 
souls  who  have  been  actually  rescued  by  its  opera- 
tion, from  the  bondage  of  sin,  through  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  How  wonderful  is  the  display 
which  is  thus  made  of  the  divine  power !  Who  has 
caused  this  "  little  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain 
without  hands"  to  grow  into  a  mighty  mountain, 
and  establish  itself  in  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  1 


284  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [lECT.  V. 

Who  has  constrained  such  millions  of  sinful  men  to 
submit  their  hearts  to  a  doctrine  everywhere  spoken 
against,  upon  the  testimony  of  a  few  poor  and  de- 
spised persons ;  to  a  doctrine  wholly  opposed  and 
offensive  to  the  propensities  of  their  own  nature ;  to 
a  doctrine  involving  unceasing  self-denial,  and  the 
assumption  of  a  severe  and  painful  cross  7  Who 
has  induced  men  thus  to  submit  themselves  to  one 
whom  they  have  never  seen,  and  in  whom  if  they 
had  seen  him,  they  would  have  beheld  no  beauty 
that  they  should  desire  him  1  Who  has  persuaded 
theni  to  endure  all  griefs  and  sufferings,  in  hope  of  a 
reward,  long  deferred,  and  offering  no  ground  of  as- 
surance that  it  should  ever  be  bestowed,  but  faith 
in  his  power  who  had  promised  it,  and  requiring  on 
the  way  to  its  attainment,  a  perpetual  contest  with 
persecution,  suffering,  and  death  7 

In  all  these  effects,  w^hich  men  have  seen,  and  do 
not,  and  cannot  deny,  how  elevated  is  the  view 
which  is  presented  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  as  a 
divine  instrument !  Call  up  before  you,  the  un- 
counted souls  who  have  been  rescued  from  the 
power  of  Satan,  and  brought  into  subjection  to  the 
King  of  saints.  By  what  means  have  they  been 
delivered  from  their  bondage  1  How  have  they 
broken  their  chains  7  Has  the  power  of  human 
eloquence,  the  excellency  of  human  speech  or  wis- 
dom, the  influence  of  argument  or  moral  suasion 
accomplished  this  effect  ?  No,  not  in  a  single  in- 
stance. Nothing  but  the  Gospel,  with  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  ever  emancipated  a  single 
soul,  or  conferred  upon  one,  the  enjoyment  of  lasting 
peace.  But  this  has  been  in  every  age  quick  and 
powerful,  and  sharper    than  a   two-edged  sword, 

12 


LECT.  v.]  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  285 

as  God's  appointed  means  for  turning  thousands 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
unto  God.  Multitudes  in  every  age  have  been  living 
witnesses  of  its  power ;  and  by  its  enlightening,  com- 
forting, sanctifying  energy,  have  been  created  anew, 
and  filled  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing. 

This  extensive  exhibition  the  world  still  beholds. 
It  still  wonders  at  these  effects,  and  is  unable  to  ac- 
count for  them.  They  are  seen,  wherever  the  Gos- 
pel is  faithfully  ministered.  The  simple  preaching 
of  a  crucified  Christ,  is  still  tiie  hammer  which 
breaks  the  rock  in  pieces,  and  the  mould  which 
forms  after  the  divine  image,  the  subjects  of  its 
power.  Wherever  you  look  abroad  upon  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  you  see  this  invariable  connection  be- 
tween divine  truth,  and  divine  power.  Thus  myr- 
iads are  every  year  converted  unto  Christ.  Angels 
behold  with  joy  the  power  of  the  Lord.  The  name 
and  work  of  Jesus  are  constantly  glorified.  And 
extensive  revivals  of  religion  under  the  preaching 
of  his  truth,  show  the  presence  and  power  of  God 
in  his  Church,  and  his  blessing  upon  the  truth 
which  he  has  revealed.  With  false  systems  of  doc- 
trine, all  the  eloquence  and  talent  of  men  convert 
no  sinner's  soul.  But  the  lifting  up  of  a  crucified 
Saviour,  however  feebly  done  as  it  regards  the  tal- 
ent of  the  preacher,  draws  all  unto  him.  Under 
other  preaching,  religion  dies,  and  hardly  the  form 
of  godliness  remains.  Under  the  simple  preaching 
of  the  cross  of  Christ,  grace,  mercy  and  peace  are 
multiplied  among  men ;  and  God  confirms  his  word 
with  the  demonstration  of  his  own  Spirit,  and  with 
divine  power  continually  attending. 

2.  Take  a  view  of  this  exliibition  of  divine  power, 


286  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [lECT.  V. 

upon  the  narrower,  but  not  less  interesting  scale, 
which  the  restoration  of  the  individual  sinner  to  God 
and  holiness  displays.  See  here,  what  God  is  doing 
for  man,  under  the  Gospel,  by  his  Holy  Spirit. 

Who  awakens  and  converts  the  careless  sinner^  and 
turns  his  mind  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God  1 
His  natural  mind  refuses  all  subjection  to  the  will 
of  God.  The  strong  man  armed  keeps  his  palace, 
and  his  goods  are  in  peace.  Without  any  concern  for 
himself,  and  in  a  determined  contest  with  his  Crea- 
tor, he  sets  himself  to  oppose  the  grace  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  And  never,  until  he  is  subdued  by  a  power 
stronger  than  himself,  is  his  soul  spoiled  of  its  rebel- 
lion, and  renovated  in  love.  What  but  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  is  thus  mighty  through  God,  to  the  pull- 
ing down  of  his  strong  holds,  and  of  every  imagi- 
nation which  exalteth  itself  against  God  ?  When 
Jesus  stilled  the  tempest  with  the  two  words, 
*'  Peace,  be  still,"  men  wondered  at  the  exhibition 
of  his  power,  and  said,  "  What  manner  of  man  is 
this,  that  even  the  winds  and  the  sea  obey  him  7" 
But  the  conversion  of  a  sinful  heart  is  a  far  greater 
work  than  the  stilling  of  the  ocean.  The  sea  will 
sometimes  be  calm  of  itself  But  the  wicked  are 
always,  "  like  the  troubled  sea  when  it  cannot  rest, 
whose  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt."  To  still  this 
raging  sea,  is  a  divine  work  alone.  How  remark- 
ably God  contrasts  these  two,  by  the  prophet  Jere- 
miah 1  "  I  have  placed  the  sand  for  the  bound  of  the 
sea,  by  a  perpetual  decree,  that  it  cannot  pass  it ; 
and  though  the  waves  thereof  toss  themselves,  yet 
they  cannot  prevail ;  though  they  roar,  yet  can  they 
not  pass  over  it.  But  this  people  hath  a  revolting 
and  rebellious  heart     They  are  revolted  and  gone." 


LECT.  v.]     POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  SAVE.  287 

What  subdues  this  revolting  and  rebellious  heart, 
but  the  power  of  God  in  the  Gospel  ?  What  stills 
it  into  the  calmness  and  beauty  of  a  spiritual  life, 
but  the  word  of  God  by  his  Spirit?  This  is  the 
chosen  instrument  of  divine  power,  and  is  made  the 
savour  of  life  unto  life,  in  the  new  creation  of  the 
sinner,  not  by  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  by  the  will 
of  man,  but  by  the  power  of  God.  How  elevated 
and  wonderful  is  this  display  of  divine  power!  The 
minister  of  Jesus  speaks  in  the  ears  of  a  dead  man, 
whom  no  thunder  could  have  awakened,  and  he 
rises  up  to  give  ^lory  to  God.  The  Saviour  calls 
upon  men  through  him,  to  deny  themselves,  to  part 
with  their  chosen  sins;  sins  which  they  have  es- 
teemed their  ornament  and  subsistence;  to  reject 
with  contempt,  the  allurements  and  opposition  of 
the  world ;  to  rejoice  if  they  are  counted  worthy  to 
suflTer  shame  for  Christ's  sake ;  and  they  obey  him 
instantly,  without  conferring  with  flesh  and  blood. 
Their  earth-bound  aflfections  are  lifted  up  to  heaven. 
Their  boastful  spirit  of  rebellion  is  humbled  to  the 
meekness  of  the  lamb.  The  very  heart  which  yes- 
terday proudly  said,  "  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I 
should  serve  him,"  to-day  asks  in  humble  depend- 
ence at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  "  Lord,  what  wouldst  thou 
have  me  to  do."  I  ask  what  power  has  accom- 
plished this  change  of  heart  and  character;  what 
power  can  accomplish  it,  but  the  Gospel  ? 

Who  justifies  the  penitent  believer ^  and  gives  him 
perfect  peace  and  acceptance  with  God  7  It  is  the 
Grospel  which  the  Holy  Spirit  brings.  This  comes 
to  the  mourning  transgressor,  as  a  ministration  of 
righteousness,  as  a  word  of  reconciliation  and  peace 
to  his  anxious  soul.     This  opens  the  prison  doors. 


288  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [leCT.    V. 

and  sets  the  captive  free.  The  power  of  the  law 
was  great,  and  the  mighty  thunderings  with  which 
it  was  given,  represented  it.  But  it  was  a  power 
for  destruction  only.  It  could  only  hold  down  a 
man  who  was  dead  before.  It  could  never  give  him 
life  again.  .  How  much  greater  is  that  power  of  God 
in  the  Gospel  which  gives  him  new  life ;  raises  him 
up  to  a  new  and  everlasting  being, — passes  by  his 
transgressions,  and  gives  him  liberty  and  boldness 
in  the  presence  of  the  King  of  saints !  This  the 
Gospel  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is  made  to  do.  It  takes 
away  the  burden  of  guilt  from  the  sinner's  soul ;  it 
silences  every  accuser ;  it  fills  him  with  the  confi- 
dence of  hope ;  it  forbids  every  weapon  which  is 
formed  against  him  to  prosper ;  it  condemns  every 
tongue  that  rises  in  judgment  against  him.  The 
justification  which  it  gives,  is  a  perfect  and  entire 
one.  The  sins  of  a  life,  however  accumulated,  how- 
ever aggravated,  are  blotted  out  in  one  moment,  and 
that  forever.  A  new  and  perfect  righteousness  is 
bestowed  upon  him ;  and  he  stands  before  God,  not 
only  without  a  stain  of  guilt,  but  with  a  character 
as  perfect,  and  a  title  to  an  inheritance  of  glory  as 
entire,  as  if  he  had  been  perfectly  obedient,  and 
without  transgression.  In  this  total  change  of  the 
sinner's  relation  to  God,  the  Gospel  makes  every- 
thing sure  forever.  It  turns  forever  aside  the  edge 
of  judgment;  and  rejoices  in  a  victory  over  con- 
demnation ;  and  asks  in  triumph,  "  Who  shall  lay 
anything  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?  It  is  God 
that  justifieth  ;  who  is  he  that  condemneth'?  It  is 
Christ  that  died,  yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again; 
who  is  ever  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;"  and  thus 
relieving  the  believer's  soul  from  fear,  from  danger, 


LECT.  v.]  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  289 

and  from  death,  it  shews  itself  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation. 

Who  cairies  on  in  increasing  holiness,  the  work 
of  grace  which  has  been  thus  commenced,  for  the 
converted  and  justified  sinner  ?  The  application  of 
the  same  Gospel  by  the  same  Spirit,  is  the  only  in- 
strument for  renewing  the  souls  of  men  in  holiness. 
They  are  sanctified  through  the  truth  ;  according  to 
the  Redeemer's  prayer,  ''  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth ;  thy  word  is  truth."  They  are  thus  daily 
led  to  be  more  conformed  to  the  image  of  God. 
The  heavenly  teaching  of  the  Spirit  forms  Christ 
more  perfectly  in  their  souls, — writes  the  divine  law 
upon  their  hearts ;  and  makes  it  their  delight  to  do 
his  will.  This  is  a  continual  exhibition  of  the  power 
of  the  Gospel.  The  impression  upon  adamant  from 
the  t^uch  of  a  seal,  would  not  be  more  wonderful, 
than  this  transformation  of  an  earthly  and  degraded 
soul  into  the  perfect  image  of  Christ,  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  word  of  his  truth.  Yet  men  beholding  in 
the  Gospel,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are 
changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory,  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  They  are  thus  made  par- 
takers of  a  divine  nature.  Christ  is  made  their 
sanctification.  They  are  made  holy,  because  they 
are  made  one  with  him,  and  receive  from  his  ful- 
ness, grace  upon  grace.  The  application  of  the 
great  truths  of  the  Gospel  to  their  hearts,  by  the 
power  of  the  Spirit,  destroys  the  temptations  of 
sense,— overcomes  the  allurements  of  the  world; 
bruises  Satan  under  their  feet ;  makes  them  in  the 
likeness  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  holy,  harmless,  undefiled, 
and  separate  from  sinners.  What  other  instrument 
produces  this  effect  ?     Surely  none.     And  in  this, 

13 


290  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [lECT.  V. 

there  is  a  constant  display  of  the  power  of  God  in 
the  Gospel,  for  the  salvation  of  those  who  believe. 

Who  upholds^  and  preserves  unto  final  salvation^ 
those  who  are  thus  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth  7  The  Gospel  is  the  great  instrument  of  the 
Spirit,  for  keeping  every  child  of  God  through  faith 
unto  salvation.  By  the  divine  power  attending  its 
ministrations,  it  is  able  to  keep  him  from  falling, 
and  to  present  him  before  the  throne  of  God  with 
exceeding  joy.  It  is  an  incorruptible  abiding  seed 
within  him  ;  a  tree  of  life  which  brings  forth  per- 
manent and  increasing  fruit.  Every  branch  in- 
grafted into  Christ  which  beareth  fruit  is  purged, 
that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit.  From  him,  the 
believing  soul  receives  life  more  and  more  abun- 
dantly. How  glorious  is  this  exhibition  of  divine 
power  in  feeble,  fallible  man  !  It  is  like  keeping  a 
spark  alive  in  the  midst  of  an  ocean ;  a  sustaining 
of  hope  against  hope.  The  subject  of  a  Saviour's 
grace  is  encompassed  with  innumerable  difficulties. 
Many  and  heavy  loads  unite  their  weight  upon  him. 
He  bears  the  burden  of  a  wounded  spirit ;  the  an- 
guish of  indwelling  sin ;  the  weight  of  a  suffering 
body ;  the  scorn  and  reproach  of  Satan  and  the 
world.  But  amidst  all  these,  Jesus  gives  him,  by 
his  Spirit  in  the  Gospel,  "  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil 
of  joy  for  mourning,  the  garment  of  praise  for  the 
spirit  of  heaviness."  When  fearfulness  and  trem- 
bling come  upon  him,  and  his  steps  are  almost  gone, 
this  is  his  comfort  in  his  affliction,  that  the  word 
of  God  hath  quickened  him,  and  that  God  will  per- 
fect that  which  he  hath  wrought  for  his  servant. 
He  leans,  under  the  teaching  of  the  Gospel,  upon  no 
created  strength ;  he  looks  not  for  the  help  of  man. 


LECT.  v.]     POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  SAVE.  291 

He  trusts  to  the  word  of  divine  promise  in  the  Gos- 
pel, and  stays  upon  his  God  as  there  revealed.  He 
easts  his  whole  care  upon  him  who  hath  begun  a 
good  work  in  him,  confident  that  he  will  carry  it  on 
unto  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  this  trust,  he  is 
never  forsaken,  nor  is  the  Spirit  of  God  taken  from 
his  soul.  This  divinely  preserving  power  of  the 
Gospel  is  often  displayed  through  a  long  course  of 
years,  and  in  circumstances  of  great  trial  and  dis- 
tress. ''  Eighty  and  six  years,"  said  Poly  carp  upon 
the  day  of  his  martyrdom,  ^'  have  I  served  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  and  he  has  never  forsaken  me."  What 
can  be  a  more  delightful  testimony  to  the  worth  and 
power  of  the  Gospel,  than  the  reflection  of  an  old 
man  who  has  passed  through  all  the  sorrows  of  life, 
and  gained  the  period  when  all  the  charms  of  earth 
have  lost  their  power,  "  I  have  been  young,  and  now 
am  old,  and  yet  saw  I  never,  the  righteous  for- 
saken ;"  ''  to  me,  Jesus  is  still  precious  ?"  But  this 
testimony  is  given  every  day,  and  God  is  thus  hon- 
oured in  the  power  which  he  exhibits  in  the  Gos- 
pel, to  sustain  and  preserve  all  who  have  trusted 
themselves  to  him. 

Who  finally  crowns  the  subjects  of  grace  in  eter- 
nal glory  ?  There  is  the  consummation  of  this  dis- 
play of  divine  power.  For  every  child  of  God  on 
earth,  this  work  of  grace  shall  be  assuredly  per- 
fected. As  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord,  they  shall 
return  to  Zion,  with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon 
their  heads.  They  shall  obtain  joy  and  gladness, 
and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away.  Then  how 
wonderful  will  be  the  display  of  power  in  that  work 
which  God  has  accomplished  for  man  through  his 
Spirit  by  the  Gospel !     How  amazing   the  grace 


292  POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  SAVE.     [lECT.  V 

which  has  brought  so  many  children  of  wrath  and 
sin,  to  be  heirs  of  everlasting  glory  !  The  sufferings 
of  Jesus  will  have  receiyed  their  full  reward.  He 
shall  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  those 
who  believe.  He  shall  rejoice  forever  over  the  vast 
multitudes  whom  he  has  redeemed,  and  washed 
from  their  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  brought  home 
to  God.  Countless  armies  shall  assemble  before 
him  with  his  mark  upon  their  foreheads;  all,  the 
fruits  of  his  redemption  ;  plucked  from  the  jaws  of 
the  lion ;  begotten  again  by  his  Spirit  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  this  lively  hope ;  secured  in  an  everlasting 
possession  of  the  glory  of  God,  and  of  the  presence 
of  the  Lamb.  But  who  hath  done  all  this  '?  What 
instrument  of  amazing  povA^er  has  been  here  dis- 
played ?  Every  soul  will  answer,  "  God,  through 
the  offering  of  his  Son,  and  by  the  power  of  his 
Spirit,  in  the  Gospel."  The  work  in  every  instance 
has  been  the  same.  A  vessel  of  wrath  fitted  to 
destruction,  has  been  brought  as  a  vessel  afore  pre- 
pared for  glory,  to  the  everlasting  habitation  of  God, 
for  the  Master's  honour  and  use.  Unnumbered 
millions,  who  were  by  nature,  poor  and  miserable 
and  blind  and  naked  ; — for  whom  when  they  were 
without  strength,  Christ  died  ;  will  be  seen  gathered 
in  the  Father's  house,  rescued  by  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  through  the  Gospel,  and  made  to  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever. 

III.  In  this  wonderful  exhibition  of  divine  power 
in  the  Gospel,  we  are  taught  the  proper  ground  for 
human  hope. 

It  is  the  power  of  God  as  promised  and  exercised 
in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.     If  you  look  upon  your  own 


LEOT.    v.]  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  293 

characters,  you  find  yourselves  utterly  weak  and 
unworthy.  All  reflections  upon  yourselves  will  in- 
evitably be  of  the  most  humiliating  and  painful 
character ;  and  if  you  were  compelled  to  receive  the 
wages  which  you  have  earned  by  your  own  conduct, 
you  could  not  sustain  the  load.  You  have  nothing 
which  you  can  offer  unto  God.  There  is  no  part 
of  your  lives  which  could  furnish  you  a  sufficient 
hope  of  acceptance  before  him,  and  if  he  should  call 
you  into  judgment,  it  must  be  to  condemn  and  des- 
troy you.  But  while  you  are  thus  entirely  deficient 
in  yourselves,  there  is  offered  to  you  in  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus,  a  sufficient  and  abiding  hope.  There  the 
divine  power  presents  itself  to  your  acceptance,  as 
all-sufficient  for  your  wants,  and  invites  you  to  lean 
upon  it,  as  a  staff  which  can  never  be  broken. 

Will  you  then  be  persuaded  to  cast  out  all  idea 
of  trusting  in  yourselves ;  to  renounce  all  dependence 
upon  your  own  character  and  conduct,  and  to  seek 
a  righteousness  beyond  yourselves,  in  the  perfect 
and  spotless  obedience  of  the  Son  of  God  1  You 
are  simply  invited  to  accept  the  provisions  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  as  Noah,  believing  God's  word,  sought 
refuge  and  protection  in  the  ark,  and  as  the  per- 
secuted Israelite,  trusting  the  divine  command,  found 
a  shelter  in  the  city  of  refuge,  so  to  flee  to  the  work 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  has  finished,  and  venture 
yourselves  upon  that  without  fear,  and  plead  nothing 
but  that  for  your  acceptance  before  God.  If  you 
are  convinced  of  your  wants,  and  of  your  total  in- 
ability to  save  yourself,  and  are  ready  to  be  freely 
justified  and  freely  saved  by  the  power  of  Christ, 
everything  is  ready  for  you.  The  sacrifice  and  obe- 
dience of  Jesus  have  been  accepted  in  your  behalf. 


294  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [lECT.    V. 

God  is  well  pleased  in  him,  and  well  pleased  to  save 
you  for  his  sake ;  and  nothing  is  wanting,  but  that  you 
with  a  penitent  and  humble  spirit  should  receive  the 
blessings  which  are  so  freely  offered  you  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  Gospel  presents  you  all  with  a  foun- 
dation upon  which  you  may  securely  build.  With- 
out fear  or  doubting  you  may  embrace  this  glorious 
hope  ;  and  when  you  do  embrace  it  in  your  hearts, 
all  your  guilt  shall  be  removed,  all  your  dangers 
shall  pass  away,  and  everlasting  light  and  glory  shall 
rest  upon  your  souls. 

Do  not /trust  yourselves  before  a  heart-searching 
God  with  any  other  ground  of  hope  ;  for  plead  what 
you  will,  you  will  be  inevitably  condemned.  When 
God  riseth  up  in  judgment  you  cannot  answer  him, 
or  stand  before  him,  save  in  the  all-sufficient  and 
prevailing  merits  of  an  incarnate  and  suffering  Sav- 
iour, which  have  been  thankfully  embraced  and 
dwelt  upon  by  you. 

2.  You  see  to  whom  all  the  praise  is  to  be  given 
for  the  work  of  salvation.  In  this  work  man  is 
nothing.  He  brings  to  it  no  strength,  no  merit,  no 
claim  of  any  kind.  You  are  to  ascribe  the  whole 
glory  to  that  mighty  Saviour  who  loved  you,  when 
you  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  inter- 
posed his  power  and  his  worthiness  for  you,  when 
you  were  perishing,  without  strength  and  without 
hope.  To  him  let  your  thanksgivings  be  every  day 
addressed,  as  you  are  led  on  from  strength  to  strength. 
In  him  let  all  your  confidence  be  placed,  for  what 
he  has  promised  to  do  for  you,  while  you  are  passing 
the  wilderness  of  life  ;  and  when  you  are  brought 
to  rest,  in  the  presence  of  his  glory,  to  him  will  you 
find  yourselves  constrained  to  offer  all  the  honour 


LECT.  v.]     POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  SAVE.  295 

and  praise  for  what  he  has  been  pleased  to  under- 
take and  finish  in  your  behalf.  He  is  the  great  ob- 
ject of  universal  praise ;  all  the  angels  of  God 
worship  him  ;  all  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  per- 
fect ascribe  honour  unto  him  ;  and  from  our  hearts 
he  asks  the  same  tribute  of  thanksgiving  and  honour. 
Give  him  glory  before  your  feet  stumble  upon  the 
dark  mountains,  and  he  turn  the  light  which  you 
look  for,  into  the  shadow  of  death.  Be  wise  in 
making  him  your  friend  while  his  mercies  are  offered 
you  in  his  word,  and  let  the  power  of  the  Gospel  be 
for  you  a  power  to  save. 

For  reflect,  I  pray  you,  in  conclusion,  that  the 
same  power  which  the  Gospel  has  to  save,  it  has  to 
destjvy.  It  increases  the  condemnation  and  misery 
of  those  who  reject  it,  and  it  were  far  better,  never 
to  have  heard  its  gracious  invitations,  than  having 
heard  them  to  cast  them  voluntarily  away.  To  this 
destroying  power  of  the  Gospel  for  those  who  reject 
it,  Jesus  refers  when  he  says,  '^  Whosoever  shall 
fall  on  this  stone  shall  be  broken,  but  on  whomso- 
ever it  shall  fall,  it  will  grind  him  to  powder."  It 
has  an  irresistible  energy.  It  comes  with  an  over- 
whelming force  upon  those  who  have  despised  its 
mercies,  and  makes  it  better  for  such  persons  if  they 
had  never  been  born.  This  Gospel  must  appear  in 
the  great  day,  as  a  witness  for,  or  against  every  child 
of  man.  It  will  bear  testimony  for  all  who  have 
accepted  its  invitations,  that  justice  is  satisfied,  and 
all  condemnation  must  pass  away ;  that  the  Lamb 
is  worthy,  and  for  his  sake,  infinite  honour  and 
glory  must  be  bestowed  on  them.  It  must  witness 
against  all  who  have  refused  its  mercies,  that  they 
are  without  hope ;  the  law  must  take  its  course, 


POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    SAVE.  [lECT.    V. 

while  their  condemnation  and  ruin  have  been  aw- 
fully increased,  by  choosing  death  rather  than  life. 
With  a  destructive  weight  it  falls  upon  such,  to 
grind  them  to  powder,  to  consign  them  over  to  ever- 
lasting ruin,  and  to  bind  them  in  chains  of  eternal 
darkness  and  death. 

Happy  will  it  be,  for  all  before  me,  to  have  this 
powerful  Gospel,  a  witness  of  approbation  and  not 
of  condemnation,  in  that  solemn  day. 


LECTURE  VI. 

THE  POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  CONDEMN.  . 

Whosoever  shall  fall  on  this  stone  shall  be  broken ;  but  on  whomsoever  it 
shall  fall,  it  will  grind  him  to  powder. — St.  Matthew,  xxi.  44. 

It  is  an  abiding  promise  of  the  Most  High,  "  My 
word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void ;  it  shall  accom- 
plish that  which  I  please,  and  prosper  in  the  thing 
whereto  I  sent  it."  Not  one  of  the  divine  purposes 
can  fail ;  nor  though  men  do  not  believe,  can  the 
truth  of  God  ever  be  made  of  no  effect.  But  such 
a  promise  has  a  special  application  to  that  word  of 
reconciliation  which  is  revealed  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  to  those  glad  tidings  of  mercy  which  this 
divine  Saviour  has  proclaimed  to  mankind.  The 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  as  the  solemn  and  authori- 
tative publication  of  the  will  of  God,  can  never  be 
made  a  matter  of  indifference  to  men.  God's  glo- 
rious designs  will  in  no  degree  come  short  of  their 
ultimate  accomplishment,  whether  men  will  hear, 
or  whether  they  will  forbear.  "  We  are  unto  God, 
a  sweet  savour  of  Christ,  in  them  that  are  saved,  and 
in  them  that  perish ;"  the  instruments  at  all  times 
of  manifesting  his  power,  and  shewing  forth  his 
glory.  But  it  remains  to  be  determined  by  men's 
acceptance,  or  rejection  of  the  Gospel  which  we 
preach,  whether  we  shall  be  to  them  "  a  savour  of 
life  unto  life,  or  a  savour  of  death  unto  death."    The 

13* 


298  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.       [lECT.    VI. 

Gospel  of  Christ  comes  with  all  the  weight  of  in- 
finite authority,  to  a  world  at  enmity  with  God. 
And  while  for  some,  it  effects  its  grand  object,  in 
their  conversion  unto  God,  as  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation ;  to  others,  it  becomes  the  occasion  of  in- 
creased guilt  and  condemnation.  In  comparison 
with  their  new  amount  of  transgression  thus  accu- 
mulated, it  may  be  justly  said,  that  had  not  its  bless- 
ings come  upon  them,  "  they  had  not  had  sin,  but 
now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin."  ''This  is 
their  condemnation,  that  light  has  come  into  the 
world,  and  they  have  loved  darkness  rather  than 
light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil."  The  Gospel  is 
in  every  case  a  manifestation  of  divine  power  among 
mei^.  To  those  who  refuse  its  offers  of  mercy,  it  is 
still  the  power  of  God,  though  they  pervert  its  in- 
fluence, by  their  own  rebellion,  to  their  increased 
condemnation  and  more  aggravated  ruin. 

This  latter  exhibition  of  the  divine  power  in  the 
Gospel,  our  Lord  describes  in  our  text.  He  reminds 
the  Jews  of  the  testimony  which  the  Scriptures  had 
given  unto  him,  as  the  chosen  corner  stone,  which, 
though  rejected  by  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  build 
upon  it,  was  nevertheless  exalted  to  be  the  head  of 
the  corner,  in  man's  salvation ;  and  which  in  this 
exaltation  in  defiance  of  the  opposition  of  men,  man- 
ifested the  Lord's  work,  marvellous  in  human  eyes. 
He  warns  them,  that  while  their  rejection  of  this 
chosen  foundation  of  human  hope,  would  not  over- 
turn his  purposes,  it  would  inevitably  injure,  per- 
haps finally  destroy  themselves.  "  Whosoever  shall 
fall  on  this  stone,  shall  be  broken ;  but  on  whomso- 
ever it  shall  fall,  it  will  grind  him  to  powder." 

My  design  with    this    text,    is  to   consider  the 


LECT.  VI.]       POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.  299 

poicej^  of  God  as  exhibited  in  the  Gospel,  upon  those 
icho  reject  its  offer  of  salvation.  It  describes  this 
exercise  of  power,  under  a  twofold  aspect. 

I.  Its  present  operation,  in  some  respects  bene- 
ficial to  those  upon  whom  it  is  exercised. 

II.  Its  future  operation  w^iolly  condemnatory  and 
destructive. 

The  fact  that  men  do  thus  reject  the  offers  of  the 
Gospel  cannot  be  denied.  Comparatively  few  to 
whom  the  truths  which  it  reveals,  are  uttered,  re- 
ceive them  with  love,  and  are  begotten  again  by 
their  renovating  influence,  to  that  lively  and  glori- 
ous hope  which  the  Gospel  sets  before  them.  Mul- 
titudes under  the  most  faithful  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  continue  to  harden  themselves  against  the 
word,  and  remain  impenitent  for  sin,  and  without  a 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God.  The  same  divine  testi- 
mony which  is  made  to  pluck  some  from  eternal 
ruin^  only  furnishes  arguments  to  others,  by  which 
they  may  resist  its  influence.  The  fire  which  melts 
the  wax,  is  equally  powerful  and  sure  in  its  opera- 
tion to  harden  the  clay.  The  experience  of  num- 
bers will  testify,  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
has  far  less  power  over  their  minds  now,  than  it  had 
in  some  previous  period  of  their  life ;  and  the  diffi- 
culty in  taking  off  the  serious  impressions  which  it 
makes  upon  them,  is  continually  growing  less.  But 
has  this  preaching  of  the  truth  therefore  produced 
no  effect  upon  them  7  Alas,  far  enough  from  this. 
The  responsibility  which  they  have  assumed,  is 
momentous.  The  consequences  which  must  flow 
from  their  neglect  of  so  great  salvation,  eternity  can 
alone  adequately  reveal.  The  Son  of  man  came 
not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them.     And 


300  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.       [lECT.  VI. 

yet  it  would  be  good  for  some,  to  whom  he  has 
come,  if  they  had  not  been  born.  The  main  object 
of  the  Gospel,  is  to  declare  a  free  and  finished  salva- 
tion to  guilty  men,  through  the  blood  of  God's  dear 
Son  ;  and  to  open  thus  to  perishing  sinners,  a  way 
of  escape  from  the  wrath  to  come.  But  when  the 
attainment  of  this  object  is  arrested  by  man's  per- 
version, and  sinful  men  count  themselves  unworthy 
of  eternal  life,  the  almighty  power  of  the  Redeemer 
is  still  displayed ;  and  every  knee  is  compelled  to 
bow  to  him,  and  every  tongue  to  confess  his  great- 
ness and  his  glory.  Men  may  wickedly  set  their 
faces  against  the  truth,  they  may  even  raise  the 
cruel  arm  of  persecution  to  arrest  its  progress,  and 
to  cast  down  its  dominion.  But  the  darkness  of  a 
cloud  might  as  well  attempt  to  extinguish  the  lustre 
of  the  celestial  bodies,  or  the  violence  of  a  tempest, 
to  disturb  the  order  of  their  motions.  Th^re  is  a 
power  attending  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  which 
shall  certainly  prevail  over  the  gates  of  hell ;  and  a 
wisdom,  which  no  adversary  shall  be  able  to  gain- 
say or  to  resist. 

I.  The  Gospel  manifests  this  power  of  God  over 
those  who  reject  its  offers,  in  a  present  operation^  in 
some  respects  beneficial  to  those  rcho  suffer  it.  ''  Who- 
soever shall  fall  on  this  stone,  shall  be  broken." 

1.  It  impresses  conmctions^  often  very  deep  and 
'solemn  convictions,  upon  their  minds.  One  of  the 
peculiar  offices  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  to  awaken  and 
convince  the  consciences  of  men,  by  the  instrumen- 
tality of  the  word  of  Gk)d.  With  some,  this  convic- 
tion is  the  preparation  for  a  thorough  and  spiritual 
conversion.  He  leads  them  from  the  consciousness 
of  their  misery  and  danger  in  an  unpardoned  state, 


LECT.  VI.]       POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.  301 

to  count  the  message  of  the  Gospel  worthy  of  all 
acceptation ;  to  adore  the  grace  which  offers  them 
reconciliation  with  God ;  and  to  accept  with  thank- 
fulness, as  their  garment  of  salvation,  the  perfect 
righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  there 
is  often  a  conviction  of  the  truth  fastened  upon  the 
minds  of  others,  which  is  allowed  by  them  to  pro- 
duce no  saving  change  of  character  or  state.  It  is  a 
conviction  which  drives  them  from  their  strong  hold 
of  opposition,  makes  their  own  hearts  secretly  con- 
demn them,  and  constrains  them  to  acknowledge 
the  truth  which  they  do  not  love.  Thus  the  Sav- 
iour proclaimed  his  truth  to  the  Jews,  with  such  a 
convincing  power,  that  "  no  man  was  able  to  an- 
swer him  a  word."  Thus  the  persecutors  of  Ste- 
phen were  not  "  able  to  resist  the  Spirit  with  which 
he  spake,"  though  they  gnashed  their  teeth  upon 
him  in  their  fury,  and  conspired  and  accomplished 
his  death. 

This  is  the  universal  operation  of  the  word  of 
God.  It  shuts  up  under  the  deeper  consciousness 
of  sin,  all  who  w^ill  not  fall  down  before  it,  and  give 
glory  in  their  conversion  to  the  Lord  God.  It  so 
surrounds  men  with  its  powerful  annunciations,  and 
hedges  in  their  way  with  invitations  and  warnings, 
that  there  is  no  avenue  left  them  for  escape.  God 
calls  upon  men  themselves,  to  decide  upon  the  jus- 
tice of  his  demands,  and  the  truth  of  his  represen- 
tations. "  O  my  people  testify  against  me,  what 
have  I  done  unto  thee  1  Wherein  have  I  wearied 
thee  7  How  shall  I  pardon  thee  for  this  ?  Are  not 
my  ways  equal  ?  I  will  judge  you  every  one  after 
his  own  ways."  He  thus  elicits  their  condemnation 
from  their  own  mouth ;  and  in  an  undeniable  dera- 


302  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.       [lECT.    VI 

onstration  of  their  personal  ingratitude,  seals  upon 
them,  their  own  conviction  and  acknowledgment 
of  their  guilt.  While  in  the  solemn  declarations  of 
the  Scripture,  we  affirm  that  "  the  unrighteous  shall 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,"  that  "  God  hath 
concluded  all  under  sin,"  the  consciences  of  many, 
who  will  not  submit  to  the  warnings  of  the  Most 
High,  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  to  these  descrip- 
tions of  the  sinner's  state  and  danger, "  such  also  are 
some  of  us."  Their  vain  ideas  of  security  are  over- 
thrown. Though  they  profess  themselves  free  from 
guilt,  they  do  not  feel  so.  Their  delusive  hopes  are 
swept  away.  Their  refuges  of  deceit  all  fail  them. 
They  stumble  at  the  word  being  disobedient.  They 
will  not  acknowledge,  or  build  upon  the  appointed 
corner  stone.  But  they  find  it  ever  in  their  way,  and 
falling  upon  it,  they  are  broken,  in  unavoidable  con- 
victions of  their  guilt  and  danger. 

2.  The  Gospel  excites  fears^  often  awakening  and 
alarming  fears,  in  the  consciences  of  the  unconverted. 
Fear  is  an  uniform  attendant  upon  conscious  guilt. 
When  the  conscience  of  a  guilty  man  is  aroused,  he 
trembles  at  the  shaking  of  a  leaf  The  shades  of 
solitude  have  a  darkness  for  him,  which  the  pious 
and  believing  do  not  find.  The  truth  of  God  seems 
to  wring  from  him,  the  despairing  exclamation  of 
Ahab,  "  Hast  thou  found  me,  O  mine  enemy  ?" 
The  Scripture  gives  many  solemn  and  instructive 
illustrations,  of  this  arresting  influence  of  the  divine 
message  upon  the  minds  of  the  worldly  and  rebel- 
lious. See  the  prisoner  in  chains  pronouncing  sen- 
tence upon  his  judge,  and  the  proud  man  who  fills 
the  throne  of  power,  trembling  under  the  justice  of 
the  condemnation.     Hear  the  wicked  Ahab  say  of 


LECT.    VI.]       POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.  303 

Michaiah  the  prophet,  "  I  hate  him,  because  he  doth 
not  prophesy  good  concerning  me,  but  always  evil  f 
and  yet  he  quails  and  trembles,  while  the  fettered 
prophet  exclaims,  in  the  majesty  of  conscious  truth, 
''  If  thou  return  at  all  in  peace,  the  Lord  hath  not 
spoken  by  me."  See  Felix  quivering  under  the 
power  of  the  truth,  when  the  man  who  was  bound 
with  a  chain  for  the  hope  of  Israel,  "  reasoned  be- 
fore him,  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judg- 
ment to  come."  Thus  numbers  have  trembled  un- 
der the  solemn  preaching  of  the  word  of  God,  w^ho 
have  notwithstanding  perversely  rejected  the  warn- 
ings which  it  proclaimed.  Perhaps  it  will  be  said 
that  every  unconverted  man  is  not  thus  alarmed 
under  the  preaching  of  the  divine  w^ord.  But  the 
reason  for  this,  is  not  to  be  found,  in  the  ineffi- 
ciency of  the  word,  or  in  the  greater  stoutness  of 
their  rebellious  hearts,  but  in  the  ignorance  which 
tills  the  minds  of  some,  and  the  reared  obduracy 
which  has  been  allowed  to  encase  the  consciences 
of  others.  But  even  here,  when  the  convincing 
power  of  the  Spirit  attends  the  dispensation  of  the 
word,  and  rouses  from  their  slumber,  the  legion 
who  have  taken  possession  of  the  sinner's  soul, — he 
will  see  its  truth,  and  believe  and  tremble  under  its 
influence,  though  seven  other  spirits  of  sin,  worse 
than  the  first,  afterwards  enter  into  him,  and  he  is 
finally  left  to  perish  in  his  transgressions.  Such 
fears  will  excite  men  to  solemn  determinations  of 
amendment,  and  vehement  desires  for  salvation, 
though  they  endure  only  for  a  season.  Often  will 
the  strong  and  exceeding  bitter  cry  of  Esau,  ''  Hast 
thou  not  another  blessing  7  Bless  me,  even  me,  O 
my  father,"  be  heard  in  death,  from  men  who  have 


POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.        [lECT.    VI. 

thus  sold  their  birthright,  and  trodden  under  foot 
the  Son  of  God.  They  water  their  couch  with  un- 
availing tears.  They  find  their  peace  of  mind  to  be 
banished  forever.  And  yet  they  will  not  relinquish 
their  habits  of  sin,  the  guilt  of  which  gives  tliem 
such  uneasiness,  and  often  distress.  Thus  the  Gos- 
pel displays  its  power,  even  over  those  who  reject 
its  offers  of  grace.  They  fall  upon  this  stone,  and 
are  broken. 

3.  The  Gospel  lays  powerful  and  important  re- 
straints upon  the  unconverted.  It  often  almost  per- 
suades them  to  submit  to  its  influence,  and  follow 
Christ  in  newness  of  life.  We  cannot  look  upon 
the  present  state  of  the  world,  without  being  con- 
vinced, that  corrupted  as  it  now  is,  the  mighty  hand 
of  God  is  notwithstanding  remarkably  laid  upon  it, 
for  the  restraint  of  its  iniquity.  Sin  rarely  produces 
its  perfect  work.  The  tide  of  its  determination  is 
arrested.  The  divine  assurance  "  hitherto  mayest 
thou  come,  but  no  further,"  stays  the  accomplishment 
of  its  plans.  Unconverted  men  do  not,  and  cannot, 
push  to  the  extreme  point,  the  tendency  of  their 
corrupted  principles.  They  are  held  back  in  courses 
which  they  fondly  love,  and  forced  into  external 
compliances,  which  theiy  have  no  inward  principles 
to  sustain.  The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  exercises 
a  power,  to  bind  them  down  to  comparative  moder- 
ation in  their  transgressions,  and  to  compel  them  to 
desist  from  their  headstrong  course  of  degradation 
and  ruin,  even  though  like  the  chained  tiger,  they 
may  fret  themselves  into  a  rage,  under  the  imposi- 
tion of  its  restraints.  This  restraining  power  of  the 
Gospel  is  habitually  seen,  exercised  over  many  who 
will  not  subniit  to  its  converting  power.     Herod 


LECT.    VI.]       POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.  305 

would  do  "  many  things"  under  the  persuasion  of 
John,  though  he  would  not  part  with  Herodias,  even 
for  him.  Agrippa  was  "  almost  persuaded  to  be  a 
Christian,"  after  the  preaching  of  St.  Paul,  yet  he 
could  not  enter  into  his  bonds.  Even  Ahab,  reek- 
ing with  the  blood  of  an  innocent  subject,  humbled 
himself  in  sackcloth,  under  the  warnings  of  Elijah. 
The  native  tendency  of  the  human  heart  is  to  entire 
alienation  from  God.  This  tendency  under  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  God  habitually  restrains. 
Like  an  invisible  power  which  should  hold  a  mass 
of  rock  floating  in  the  air,  does  the  secret  energy 
of  the  truth  retard  the  tendency  to  ruin,  of  the  un- 
converted soul, — a  tendency  as  inherent  as  the  grav- 
itation of  the  stone, — and  compel  the  carnal  mind  to 
stop  and  question  with  itself,  whether  it  shall  serve 
God  or  Mammon. 

The  Gospel  thus  shews  itself  to  be  the  power  of 
God,  even  over  those  who  willingly  reject  its  offered 
blessings,  and  remain  without  an  interest  in  its 
promises,  by  convincing,  alarming,  and  restraining 
them,  even  though  they  may  remain  finally  uncon- 
verted. They  fall  upon  this  chosen  and  exalted 
corner  stone,  in  their  refusal  to  employ  it  according 
to  the  divine  command,  as  the  foundation  of  their 
hope,  and  they  are  broken.  They  feel  and  acknowl- 
edge its  power,  notwithstanding  they  affect  to  de- 
spise it.  They  are  kept  back  by  its  influence  from 
their  full  courses  of  rebellion.  They  are  not  able 
to  do  all  their  will.  And  although  they  are  finally 
condemned,  for  thus  loving  darkness  rather  than 
light,  the  restraints  under  which  the  Gospel  places 
them  here,  are  a  beneficial  operation.  God  displays 
towards  them  in  all  this  course  of  authority  over 


306  POWER    OP    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.       [lECT.  VI. 

them,  remarkable  long-suffering  and  mercy,  enduring 
with  them,  as  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction, 
and  giving  them 'space  to  repent  of  their  evil  deeds, 
before  they  are  finally  called  into  judgment  before 
him. 

II.  The  Gospel  manifests  its  power  over  the  un- 
converted, in  a  fature  operation  which  is  wholly  con- 
demnatory and  destructive,  "  On  whomsoever  it 
vshall  fall  it  will  grind  him  to  powder."  What  words 
could  more  emphatically  and  solemnly  display  the 
utter  final  destruction  of  ungodly  men  ?  A  sinner 
falls  on  this  stone  in  his  own  rejection  of  it.  It  be- 
comes to  him  a  stumbling  block  and  a  rock  of  of- 
fence. But  he  is  arrested  and  held  back  by  its 
power,  in  his  progress  of  wickedness  to  destruction, 
even  though  he  perishes  in  this  rejection  at  the  last. 
It  falls  again  upon  the  sinner,  in  its  final  influence 
for  condemnation, — ripening  him  for  judgment,  and 
increasing  his  condemnation, — so  that  his  final  con- 
dition becomes  far  worse,  from  the  precious  privi- 
leges which  he  has  so  ineffectually  enjoyed.  ''  That 
servant  which  knew  his  Lord's  will  and  prepared 
not  himself,  neither  did  according  to  his  will,  shall 
be  beaten  with  many  stripes  ;  but  he  that  knew  not, 
and  did  commit  things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be 
beaten  with  few  stripes ;  for  unto  whomsoever  much 
is  given,  of  him  shall  be  much  required."  "  He  that 
despised  Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy  under  two  or 
three  witnesses :  of  how  much  sorer  punishment  sup- 
pose ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trod- 
den under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted 
the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanc- 
tified, an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto 
the  Spirit  of  grace  T 


LECT,   VI.]       POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.  307 

1.  The  Gospel  produces  this  effect  of  condemna- 
tion upon  those  who  reject  it,  by  the  increased  Iios- 
tility  and  opposition  against  itself,  which  it  excites 
among  them.     It  thus  displays  its  power  often  in  a 
very  remarkable  way,  and  wicked  men  exhibit  a 
consciousness  of  this   power   equally   remarkable. 
When  a  man  cautiously  buckles  on  his  armour,  and 
stands  with  much  determination  upon  his  defence, 
and  enters  into  a  contest  watchful  and  guarded,  he 
shews  himself  expecting  an  antagonist  of  great  com- 
parative power.     It  is  fighting  not  as  one  that  beat- 
eth  the  air.     How  often  do  sinful  men  with  such  a 
vspirit  and  determination  as  this,  meet  the  preaching 
and  the  power  of  the  truth  of  God.     They  fill  their 
mouths  with  arguments  ;  and  in  manifest  fear  of  the 
influence  of  the  word  of  God,  they  fix  themselves, 
in  prepared  and  steadfast  opposition  to  its  power. 
Let  the  secret  places  of  their  wickedness  be  un- 
touched, and  the  prophets  cry  peace,  peace  to  them 
in  their  sins,  and   they  will  move  on  quietly  and 
softly.     Great  external  decorum  in  their  relations  to 
the  ordinances  and  services  of  religion,  will  often 
conceal  the  real  bitterness  of  their  unsubdued  hearts. 
But  let  the  word  of  God  be  brought  into  direct  op- 
position to  their  plans  and  habits  of  unbelief  and 
sin,  and  they  are  driven  from  their  assumed  tran- 
quillity, the  philosophic  dignity  of  their  demeanour, 
to  the  extremes  of  anger  and  violence ;   like  the 
river  which  flows  easily  and  silently  in  an  unob- 
structed channel,  but  foams,  and  chafes,  and  rages, 
when  its  progress  is  arrested  or  impeded  by  inter- 
vening rocks.     Sin  cannot  bear  to  be  disquieted  ; — 
far  less,  to  be  encompassed  and  shut  in,  by  the  sol- 
emn and  unbending  warnings  of  God.     And  the 


i^. 


POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.       [lECT.  VI. 

Gospel  becomes  thus  a  remarkable  test  of  the  char- 
acter of  men  ;  as  the  manner  in  which  the  avowed 
preaching  of  it  is  received,  becomes  generally,  an 
equally  striking  test  of  the  measure  of  fidelity  in  its 
ministration.  If  the  trumpet  of  the  watchman  give 
an  uncertain  sound,  the  most  worldly  and  unsub- 
dued hearer  will  be  willing  to  endure,  perhaps  to 
listen.  But  if  the  messenger  of  Christ  come  forth, 
with  simple,  solemn,  and  unequivocal  words  of 
warning ;  if  he  make  the  sins  of  men  to  find  them 
out,  in  his  pointed  appeals  from  God  to  their  con- 
sciences and  hearts ;  then  the  Gospel  shews  its 
power,  in  the  extreme  hostility  which  it  excites. 
And  as  the  hunted  lion  will  turn  at  last  in  despair, 
upon  his  pursuers,  and  spend  his  utmost  strength  in 
a  last  defence,  so  do  the  raging  passions  of  the  un- 
converted soul,  unite  themselves  in  the  vain  deter- 
mination to  cast  down  the  power  of  this  Gospel, 
and  to  sustain  by  efforts  of  violence,  the  dominion 
of  sin.  This  hostility  of  the  finally  unconverted 
against  the  truth  and  will  of  God,  is  thus  increased 
by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  in  proportion  to  the 
fidelity  of  its  ministration.  And  the  rejected  Gos- 
pel thus  matures  them  for  a  judgment  which  linger- 
eth  not,  and  a  damnation  which  slumbereth  not.  The 
despised  cornerstone  is  thus  rolling  back  upon  them 
in  an  alarming  return  for  their  contempt.  And  the 
sad  final  result,  the  text  describes.  "  It  will  grind 
them  to  powder." 

2.  The  Gospel  shews  this  power  over  the  uncon- 
verted, in  the  aggravation  ichich  it  adds  to  their-  con- 
^mnation  and  punishment.  Every  neglected  privi- 
lege is  a  swift  witness  against  the  soul  to  judgment. 
The  unspeakable  mercies  of  the  Gospel,  abused  and 


LECT.  VI.]       POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.  30^ 

trampled  on,  constitute  that  amount  of  guilt,  for 
which  the  infallible  word  of  God  has  denounced  a 
far  sorer  punishment  than  death  without  mercy. 
"  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  to  them,"  said  the 
Saviour  of  the  unbelieving  Jews,  "  they  had  not  had 
sin ;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin.  If  I 
had  not  done  among  them,  the  works  which  no 
other  man  did,  they  had  not  had  sin  ;  but  now  they 
have  both  seen  and  hated,  both  me  -and  my  Father." 
The  violations  of  the  precepts  of  God's  holy  law, 
do  not  form  the  only,  nor  the  chief  provocation,  for 
which  the  wrath  of  God  breaks  out  upon  the  un- 
converted to  the  uttermost,  at  the  last.  For  all 
these,  pardon  was  freely  offered ;  and  for  the  con- 
demnation which  they  have  deserved,  a  ransom  was 
freely  provided.  Sins  like  crimson  and  scarlet  could 
have  been  washed  away,  in  that  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  But  the  con- 
tinued rejection  of  the  mercies  of  the  Gospel,  the 
refusal  of  this  ransom  and  forgiveness,  the  rejection 
of  the  anointed  Son  of  God  by  whom  they  w  ere  of- 
fered, constitute  a  transgression,  for  which  there  re- 
maineth  no  more  sacrifice,  and  the  guilt  and  ingrati- 
tude of  which  make  all  other  sins  of  no  comparative 
account.  This  burden,  the  rolling  back  of  a  rejected 
Gospel  brings  upon  the  unconverted  man  forever. 
The  wicked  of  all  lands,  and  all  generations,  will 
rise  up  in  the  judgment  against  him,  and  condemn 
him.  His  portion  is  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,  the 
just  vengeance  of  a  despised  Redeemer,  from  which 
he  will  vainly  seek  a  refuge  beneath  the  rocks  and 
the  mountains.  Every  year's  continuance  in  the 
unprofitable  enjoyment  of  the  means  of  salvation, 
renders  this  condemnation  the  more  certain  and  in- 


*310  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.       [lECT.    Vt. 

evitable.  In  the  degree  in  which  advantages  are 
great,  will  judgment  be  the  more  speedy,  as  well  as 
the  more  dreadful.  Just  as  the  sun  ripens  the  more 
hastily  the  fruit  which  is  trained  against  the  wall, 
does  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  Gospel  mature 
with  the  greater  rapidity  the  measure  of  their  guilt, 
who  have  unavailingly  received  its  great  and  pe- 
culiar bounties.  Forbearance  may  be  long  and  pa- 
tiently extended,  towards  those  who  have  never 
known  this  more  excellent  way.  But  a  swift  de- 
struction must  attend  the  ingratitude  and  hardness 
of  their  hearts,  who  despise  the  free  and  clear  offers 
of  that  life,  which  is  laid  up  for  guilty  man  in  God's 
dear  Son.  The  stone  must  fall  on  them,  and  grind 
them* to  powder.  Long  neglected  grace  will  call 
down  a  swifter  and  heavier  judgment.  And  the 
Gospel  will  shew  the  power  which  attends  it,  in  a 
resistless  and  everlasting  (condemnation,  of  those 
who  have  thus  loved  darkness  rather  than  light. 

III.  How  serious  and  important  are  the  consid- 
erations which  are  presented  in  this  testimony  from 
the  word  of  God !  How  fearful  is  their  condition, 
who  are  living  without  God  in  the  w^orld,  amidst 
the  abounding  mercies  which  he  hath  offered  in  his 
Son,  and  converting  the  unspeakably  gracious  bless- 
ing of  a  Saviour  for  the  perishing,  into  an  increased 
condemnation,  and  more  aggravated  curse!  And 
yet  there  are  no  truths  connected  with  the  redemp- 
tion of  man,  more  undeniably  certain,  than  those 
which  have  been  here  considered.  The  responsi- 
bility which  is  thus  made  to  rest  upon  man  amidst 
these  privileges,  cannot  be  avoided,  or  laid  aside. 
If  the  careless  sinner  refuse  to  hear  the  preaching 
which  only  aggravates  his  condemnation,  and  heap 


LECT.   VI.]       POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.  311 

to  himself  teachers  more  suited  to  his  itching  ears, 
he  does  not  alter  in  any  degree,  the  condition  or 
prospects  of  his  soul.  The  same  responsibility 
arises,  and  the  same  condemnation  accrues,  from  a 
refusal  to  listen  to  what  the  Lord  God  hath  spoken. 
The  glad  tidings  of  a  Saviour  are  proclaimed,  and  it 
is  the  duty  of  sinful  men  to  hear  with  thankfulness, 
obedience  and  joy,  the  heavenly  message  which  is 
delivered  to  them.  Jehovah  hath  spoken  to  us  in 
his  Son ;  and  every  soul  which  will  not  hear  this 
last  great  messenger  from  God,  shall  be  cut  off  from 
among  his  people.  The  only  way  to  escape  con- 
demnation, is  freely  and  thankfully  to  submit  your- 
selves to  God ;  to  kiss  the  Son,  before  he  be  angry, 
or  his  wrath  be  kindled  but  a  little ;  and  thus  to  ac- 
complish that  determination,  which  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  would  lead  your  hearts  to  make,  to  seek  him 
while  he  may  be  found,  and  to  call  upon  him  while 
he  is  near.  You  must  embrace  the  truth  with  a 
thankful  and  contrite  heart,  receive  Christ  within 
you  as  a  hope  of  glory,  and  thus  become  new  crea- 
tures in  him.  The  longer  this  full  conversion  unto 
God  is  deferred,  the  greater  becomes  your  danger 
and  your  guilt;  and  the  more  rapid  the  progress, 
and  the  more  irreversible  the  certainty,  of  that  ever- 
lasting destruction  which  you  will  bring  upon  your- 
selves. Here  only  is  there  salvation.  If  you  are 
ever  plucked  from  ruin,  it  can  only  be,  by  finding  by 
the  experience  of  your  own  hearts,  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  offered  in  the  Gospel,  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation.  To  lead  you  to  this,  all  the  in- 
vitations and  influences  of  the  Gospel  are  continu- 
ally combined ;  goodness  and  mercy  are  thus  follow- 
ing you  all  your  days.     God  is  waiting  to  be  gra- 


318  POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL    TO    CONDEMN.       [leCT.    VI. 

cious  to  you,  and  even  after  so  long  a  time,  he  urges 
you  still  to  hear  his  voice,  and  harden  not  your 
hearts.  And  if,  amidst  all  these  amazing  mercies, 
you  refuse  to  hear  his  gracious  entreaties,  and  count 
yourselves  unworthy  of  eternal  life,^ — how  manifest 
it  must  become  to  yourselves,  and  to  all  others,  that 
your  damnation  is  just. 


LECTURE   VII. 

THE  GRACE  OF  THE   GOSPEL  AS   A  DIVINE  GIFT. 

The  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. — Ephesians  hi.  9. 

We  understand  these,  as  the  unsearchable  pro- 
visions of  grace,  which  are  contained  in  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  These  provisions  the  Apostle  Paul  was 
sent  to  offer  to  the  Gentiles  ;  and  in  the  whole  of  his 
ministrations,  he  shews  us  the  remarkable  difference 
which  there  is  between  that  view  of  the  Gospel 
which  is  the  result  of  speculative  examination 
merely,  and  that  view  of  it  which  has  been  formed 
from  an  experience  of  its  life-giving  power.  The 
man  who  examines  the  Gospel  upon  its  exterior, 
sees  much  in  it  to  admire,  for  its  beauty  of  moral 
precepts,  its  attractive  examples  of  personal  charac- 
ter, and  its  peculiar  revelations  of  the  existence  and 
character  of  God ;  and  upon  this  ground  he  may  ad- 
vocate and  enforce  the  system  of  religion  which  he 
conceives  the  New  Testament  to  contain. 

The  man  who  has  experienced  the  power  of  the 
Gospel  to  convert  and  sanctify,  forgets  these  pecul- 
iar reasons  for  valuing  its  revelations,  in  his  won- 
dering admiration  of  it,  as  a  system  of  unsearchable 
grace  for  the  chief  of  sinners.  Our  minds  will  nat- 
urally dwell  upon  that  aspect  of  this  system  with 
the  most  constancy  and  delight,  which  we  feel  to  be 

14 


314  GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.       [lECT.  VII. 

most  suited  to  our  individual  wants  ;  and  if  we  have 
felt  ourselves  to  be  ruined  sinners,  and  have  sought 
in  the  Gospel  a  rennedy  for  our  necessities,  w^e  shall 
pass  over  every  minor  characteristic,  and  adore  the 
exceeding  riches  of  grace  which  Almighty  God  has 
been  pleased  here  to  exhibit. 

This  view  of  the  Gospel  occupied  the  thoughts 
and  ajffections  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  seldom 
speaks  of  Jesus  or  his  dispensation,  except  under 
the  idea  of  a  scheme  of  glorious  salvation ;  of  which, 
in  infinite  mercy,  he  had  been  made  a  subject,  though 
he  was  before  a  persecutor,  a  blasphemer,  and  in- 
jurious. Paul's  knowledge  of  the  truth  w^as  the  re- 
sult of  an  experience  of  its  power ;  and  to  the  same 
experience,  he  desired  to  bring  all  to  whom  he  ad- 
dressed himself,  as  an  ambassador  of  Christ.  He 
had  found  a  home,  a  resting  place  for  his  soul, 
dwelling  in  Christ ;  and  Christ  had  found  an  equally 
permanent  abode  in  his  soul,  dwelling  in  him. 

No  view  of  the  Gospel  is  so  honourable  to  God, 
or  so  comforting  and  suitable  to  ourselves,  as  this 
to  which  your  attention  is  now  to  be  directed :  the 
riches  of  its  grace  as  a  divine  gift  to  man.  The 
apostle  states  to  the  Ephesians,  that  God  especially 
designed,  in  the  salvation  which  he  liad  provided  in 
the  Gospel,  "  to  shew  in  the  ages  to  come,  the  ex- 
ceeding riches  of  his  grace  in  Christ  Jesus  ;"  and  to 
further  and  promote  this  design,  had  commissioned 
him,  though  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  to 
preach  among  the  Gentiles  ''  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ."  I  have  selected  these  words  of  the 
apostle  as  a  text,  because  they  shew  the  fact,  which 
it  is  my  design  to  exhibit  in  this  discourse,  that  the 
provisions  of  grace  offered  to  sinners  in  the  Gospel, 


LECT.  VII.]       GRACE  OP  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.  315 

are  truly  unsearchable.  They  are  adequate  to  sup- 
ply every  want ;  they  are  adapted  to  every  circum- 
stance and  relation  of  man  ;  they  are  sufficient  for 
the  necessities  of  the  wkole  race  of  men. 

I.  The  unsearchable  grace  of  the  Gospel  is  dis- 
played in  the  freeness  with  which  it  offers  every 
blessing  to  man.  It  requires  nothing  to  be  done  by 
us  in  order  to  merit  its  blessings.  It  never  puts  us 
upon  earning  an  interest  in  the  mercies  which  it 
has  provided.  To  the  utmost  meaning  of  the  terms, 
every  blessing  of  the  Gospel  is  a  free  gift  of  God  to 
man.  They  are  as  much  so  as  the  manna  which 
was  rained  from  heaven  upon  the  Israelites,  or  the 
w^ater  which  followed  them  from  the  rock  in  their 
w^anderings  through  the  wilderness.  Under  this 
character,  as  free  and  unmerited  gifts,  the  privileges 
of  the  Gospel  are  presented  through  the  whole  in- 
spired volume.  The  first  promise  of  a  Saviour  is  a 
remarkable  illustration  of  this  fact.  That  promise 
w^as  not  given  in  answer  to  any  solicitations  on  the 
part  of  our  first  parents.  They  could  hardly  be 
supposed  able  to  conceive  of  the  possibility  of  such 
a  promise.  Indeed  it  was  not  literally  given  to  them 
at  all.  It  was  included  in  the  threatening  which 
was  denounced  by  God  against  the  serpent  who  had 
deceived  them,  and  not  personally  addressed  either 
to  Adam  or  Eve ;  "  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee 
and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her 
seed  ;  it  shall  bruivSe  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise 
his  heel."  The  Saviour  was  thus  a  free  gift  of  God, 
a  gift  unthought  of  by  man ;  and  every  blessing 
which  the  Saviour  brings,  is  as  entirely  a  free  gift 
as  himself  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  deatli,  but  the 
gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our 


316        GRACE    OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.       [lECT.  VII. 

Lord."  The  whole  amount  of  mercies  and  privi- 
leges which  the  Gospel  bestows,  are  unclogged  with 
any  conditions.  The  gracious  invitations  which  it 
addresses  to  men,  are  entir«ly  unlimited  in  their  ap- 
plication. "  Ho !  every  one  that  thirsteth,"  it  says 
upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  "  and  he  that  hath 
no  money,  come  buy  and  eat ;  yea,  buy  wine  and 
milk  without  money  and  without  price."  And 
again,  in  the  conclusion  of  its  book  of  grace,  it  says 
again,  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say  come,  and  let 
him  that  heareth  say  come,  and  let  him  that  is 
athirst  come,  and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of  the 
water   of  life  freely." 

Now  here  is  exhibited  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
the  Gospel.  It  comes  to  creatures  who  can  do  no- 
thing to  deserve  its  blessings,  or  to  acquire  an  inter- 
est in  its  glorious  promises,  and  presents  itself  as 
perfectly  suitable  to  their  wants,  by  offering  freely 
and  unconditionally  to  their  acceptance,  all  the  mer- 
cies they  can  desire.  Fallen  creatures  can  do  no- 
thing to  restore  themselves.  The  angels  who  are 
confined  in  chains  of  darkness  can  do  nothing  to  ob- 
tain salvation  from  their  ruin.  They  are  utterly 
incapable  of  meriting  God's  favour,  and  we  are 
equally  so.  No  salvation  would  avail  us  anything 
which  required  us  to  do  anything  previously,  to  de- 
serve its  bestowal  upon  us. 

The  whole  Scripture  unites  to  caution  us  against 
the  thought  of  earning  grace :  ''  Say  not  in  thine 
heart,  who  shall  ascend  into  heaven?  that,  is  to 
bring  Christ  down  from  above;  or  who  shall  de- 
scend into  the  deep?  that  is,  to  bring  up  Christ 
again  from  the  dead.  But  what  saith  it?  The 
word  is  nigh  thee,  even  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy 


LECT.  VII.]       GEACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  A3  A  DIVINE  GIFT.  317 

heart ;  that  is,  the  w^ord  of  faith  which  we  preach ; 
that  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God  hath  raised 
him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with 
the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and 
with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation." 

Yes,  ice  do  preach,  as  the  Holy  Ghost  preaches 
throughout  the  whole  Bible,  that  to  receive  every 
divine  blessing  by  faith  freely,  as  it  is  freely  offered,  is 
the  only  office  assigned  to  any  child  of  man.  After 
we  have  embraced  the  invitations  of  the  Gospel,  we 
have  much  to  do  to  honour  and  adorn  it  in  all  holy 
conversation  and  godliness ;  yet  our  first  reception 
of  its  blessings  must  be  altogether  free,  and  we  must 
stand  indebted  for  them  solely  to  the  sovereign  grace 
of  God. 

But,  while  I  merely  say  the  Gospel  shews  its 
riches  of  grace  in  offering  every  blessing  freely,  I 
say  too  little.  St.  Paul  expresses  the  greatest  jeal- 
ousy upon  this  subject.  He  declares  that  if  vre  at- 
teuipt  to  do  anything,  however  good  in  itself,  expect- 
ing by  it,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  to  merit  our  sal- 
vation, we  make  void  the  whole  Gospel.  "  Behold 
I,  Paul,  say  unto  you,  that  if  ye  be  circumcised, 
Christ  shall  profit  you  nothing."  Salvation  must  be 
wholly  of  works,  or  wholly  of  grace.  If  salvation 
were  of  works,  in  ever  so  small  a  degree,  there 
would  be  room  for  boasting;  for  we  should  have 
done  something  for  ourselves.  Whereas,  under  the 
Gospel,  boasting  must  be  utterly  excluded  ;  and  sal- 
vation from  first  to  last,  must  be  received  as  a  free 
gift  of  God  for  Christ's  sake. 

What  unsearchable  grace  is  this !  and  still  more 
so,  if  you  consider  to  whom  such  offers  are  freely 


318  GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.       [lECT.  VII. 

made.  The  invitations  of  the  Gospel  are  presented 
and  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  beings  universally 
depraved  ;  beings  who  perversely  reject  all  that  has 
been  done  for  them,  who  stand  out  to  resist  its  gra- 
cious influence,  and  to  fight  against  God,  until  they 
are  subdued  and  led  captive  by  a  power  stronger 
than  themselves.  These  gracious  invitations  ot  God 
follow  these  creatures,  through  all  the  wanderings  of 
their  sinful  lives,  still  pressing  upon  their  attention 
the  solemn  call,  ''  Turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye  die." 
The  Gospel  of  Jesus,  in  the  tenderness  of  its  com- 
passion, literally  persecutes  the  sinner  with  its  en- 
treaties that  he  would  be  saved.  It  will  not  give 
him  up.  It  is  like  a  rich  and  noble  prince,  who 
should  follow  a  mendicant  up  and  down,  beseeching 
him  to  accept  the  assistance  which  he  offers ;  and 
thus  freely  offering,  and  perseveringly  offering,  un- 
searchable riches  to  sinners  who  could  deserve  no- 
thing, who  despise  and  reject  the  mercies  which  are 
presented,  and  weary  the  patience  of  the  Most  High 
with  their  perverseness,  the  Gospel  displays  its  un- 
speakable grace  as  a  gift  of  God  to  those  who  are 
really  perishing  in  their  sins. 

II.  The  unsearchable  grace  of  the  Gospel  as  a 
divine  gift,  is  displayed  in  the  fall  and  perfect  man- 
ner in  which  it  communicates  its  blessings  to  man. 
There  is  not  a  want  in  the  sinner  which  it  does 
not  abundantly  supply.  Are  we  by  nature  wretched 
and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked  ?  It 
gives  us,  without  money  or  price,  gold  tried  in  the 
fire,  that  we  may  be  rich ;  and  white  raiment  to 
cover  us,  that  the  shame  of  our  nakedness  may  not 
appear;  and  it  anoints  our  eyes  with  eye-salve,  that 
we  may  see.     It  fills  the  hungry  with  good  things, 


LECT.  VII.]       GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS   A  DIVINE  GIFT.  319 

and  exalts  those  of  low  degree.  How  beautifully, 
and  in  what  lively  colours,  is  this  fulness  of  Gospel 
provisions  exhibited  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  speaking 
through  the  prophet  Isaiah  in  that  passage  which 
our  blessed  Lord  applied  to  himself  in  the  first  pub- 
lic discourse  which  he  ever  delivered :  "  The  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  the  Lord  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek ; 
he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to 
proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of 
the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound ;  to  proclaim  the 
acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  and  the  day  of  ven- 
geance of  our  God ;  to  comfort  all  that  mourn ;  to 
appoint  unto  them  that  mourn  in  Zion,  to  give  unto 
them  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning, 
the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness, 
that  they  might  be  called  trees  of  righteousness,  the 
planting  of  the  Lord,  that  he  might  be  glorified." 
This  passage  precisely  illustrates  the  aspect  of  Gos- 
pel grace,  which  is  before  your  minds,  the  fulness 
with  which  it  supplies  every  want  of  man ;  because 
it  takes  a  view  of  mankind  in  a  vast  variety  of  con- 
ditions, in  every  stage  of  sorrow  and  distress,  and 
represents  the  Gospel  as  adapting  itself  to  every  dif- 
ferent state,  and  as  supplying  every  want  under 
which  men  are  suffering. 

Look  then  upon  the  fulness  of  these  provisions ; 
conceive  of  miserable  man  in  every  condition  in 
which  he  can  be  imagined ;  bowed  down  with  a 
sense  of  guilt,  or  harassed  with  the  temptations  of 
Satan,  or  sinking  under  persecutions  from  men,  or 
under  the  hidings  of  God's  favour,  or  in  the  prospect 
of  immediate  dissolution ;  and  in  every  condition 
the  Gospel  presents  him  with  all  that  he  can  want : 


320  GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.       [lECT.  VII. 

pardon  for  all  sin,  strength  against  every  temptation, 
support  under  every  trial,  comfort  under  every  afflic- 
tion, and  life  everlasting,  by  the  simple  exercise  of 
faith  in  Jesus,  as  life  was  given  to  the  dying  Israel- 
ite by  looking  upon  the  brazen  serpent.  If  there 
were  a  possible  situation  for  which  the  Gospel  would 
not  yield  a  supply,  if  there  were  a  single  thing 
which  it  required  us  to  furnish  from  our  own  store, 
it  would  display  no  unsearchable  riches  of  grace,  nor 
would  it  be  adapted  to  our  necessities. 

When  the  Israelites  wandered  in  the  wilderness, 
if  they  had  been  provided  with  bread  and  water, 
but  had  been  left  to  their  own  guidance,  or  no  mira- 
cle had  been  wrought  to  preserve  their  clothes,  or  to 
keep  their  feet  from  the  effect  of  long  and  weari- 
some toil,  how  evident  is  it  that  the  want  of  any 
one  blessing  would  have  rendered  all  others  nuga- 
tory and  useless.  God  must  supply  all  their  wants, 
for  they  had  no  ability  to  supply  one  themselves. 
Just  so  is  it  with  us.  Should  the  Gospel  leave  a 
single  necessity  unsatisfied,  all  its  other  provisions, 
however  rich  and  abundant,  would  be  in  vain.  Go, 
for  instance,  to  the  bedside  of  a  dying  sinner,  and 
say,  "  You  must  render  such  and  such  services  to 
the  Lord  before  you  can  be  accepted  by  him,"  what 
hope  or  comfort  would  such  tidings  inspire  ?  How 
cruelly  would  such  a  message  mock  the  anguish  of 
a  man  who  feels  that  he  can  do  nothing ,  who  is 
conscious  that  he  is  sinking  into  perdition,  and  must 
be  plucked  by  some  powerful  arm  from  the  gulf 
which  stretches  beneath  his  soul !  But  tell  him  or 
any  other  sinner,  that  "  Christ  died  for  the  chief  of 
sinners ;  that  those  who  come  to  him  he  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out ;  that  sins  like  scarlet  may  be  made 


LECT.  VII.]      GRACE  OP  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.  321 

as  white  as  snow ;  that  there  is  a  fountain  which 
cleanseth  from  all  sin;"  and  you  offer  hope  and 
comfort  which  are  entirely  and  immediately  abun- 
dant ;  you  present  a  foundation  upon  which  the  soul 
may  build  without  fear ;  and  may  see  a  sinner  made 
a  precious  jewel  in  the  Redeemer's  crown  forever. 

Thanks  be  to  God !  there  is  not  a  desirable  bless- 
ing for  man  which  the  Gospel  does  not  impart  to  us 
in  our  hour  of  need.  Pardon,  peace,  holiness  and 
joy,  are  all  offered  freely,  and  bestowed  abundantly 
for  the  Redeemer's  sake.  We  find  all  fulness  ta 
dwell  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  made  our  wisdom  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification  and  redemption ; 
and  receiving  from  him  grace  upon  grace,  we  stand 
complete  in  him.  When  our  hearts  have  embraced 
his  sufficiency,  we  are  rich,  we  are  full ;  we  drink 
of  a  fountain  which  destroys  all  thirst  for  every 
other  one,  and  have  no  disposition  to  go  from  him  ta 
draw  elsewhere.  Jesus  is  all  in  all,  an  answer  ta 
every  accusation,  a  remedy  for  every  evil,  a  supply 
for  every  necessity,  an  eternal  antidote  to  despair. 
In  him  we  have  life  abundantly,  and  feel  assured  in 
the  hope  of  treasures  passing  man's  understanding, 
which  he  has  laid  up  for  us.  In  this  wonderful  ful- 
ness of  supply,  the  Gospel  displays  riches  of  grace 
truly  unsearchable  ;  for  ages  have  past,  and  no  want 
has  ever  been  found  which  it  could  not  answer  ;  and 
the  Christian  must  still  exclaim,  at  the  close  of  the 
longest  experience  of  its  power,  *^  O  the  length  and 
breadth,  and  depth  and  height  of  the  love  of  Christ, 
which  passeth  knowledge !  How  unsearchable ! 
how  past  finding  out !" 

III.  The  unsearchable  grace  of  the  Gospel  is  ex- 
hibited in  the  perfect  security  with  which  it  bestows 

14* 


322  GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT*       [lECT.  VII. 

its  mercies  upon  the  sinner.  The  cordial  embracing 
of  the  invitations  of  the  Gospel  finally  secures  to 
every  believer,  the  everlasting  possession  of  its  ines- 
timable blessings.  The  Gospel  offers  us  salvation 
with  all  its  attendant  benefits,  as  the  matter  of  an 
everlasting  covenant  in  all  things  well  ordered  and 
sure,  confirmed  to  those  who  truly  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  represents  that  covenant  as 
confirmed  by  God  himself  with  an  oath,  in  order 
tliat  by  two  immutable  things  (that  is,  the  certain 
faithfulness  of  the  divine  promise,  and  the  additional 
solemnity  of  a  divine  oath,)  in  which  it  is  impossible 
for  God  to  lie,  we  may  have  strong  consolation  who 
have  fled  for  refuge,  to  lay  hold  of  the  hope  set  be- 
lore  us.  It  represents  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Mediator  of  that  covenant,  and  all  its  blessings  as 
treasured  up  in  hira  for  our  everlasting  benefit.  It 
states  these  blessings  to  be  treasured  up  in  him,  that 
they  may  be  made  finally  secure  ;  because  if  they 
were  intrusted  to  the  mutability  and  perverseness 
of  our  wills,  they  would  be  inevitably  lost. 

The  statements  of  the  Scripture  upon  this  treas- 
uring up  of  a  believer's  hopes  in  Christ,  and  their 
infallible  security  as  laid  up  in  him,  are  remarkably 
strong  and  expressive.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
said  to  live  in  the  believer,  and  the  believer  to  have 
died  with  him.  "  I  am  crucified  with  Christ,  never- 
theless I  live ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." 
If  this  be  our  character,  and  Christ  lives  by  his 
spiritual  presence  and  influence  in  our  hearts,  while 
•  Christ  li\^s  we  shall  live  also.  But  the  apostle 
speaks  in  yet  stronger  language  in  another  place, 
addressing  himself  to  the  Colossian  Christians,  "  Ye 
are  dead ;"  i,  e.,  to  the  world  and  the  flesh,  to  selfish 


LECT.  VII.]       GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT. 

hopes,  ''  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God ; 
when  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall 
ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory."  Here  Christ  is 
not  only  called  our  life^  but  our  life  is  said  to  be 
^'  hid  with  Christ  in  God ;"  and  because  it  is  so,  we 
may  hope  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  also 
appear  with  him  in  glory. 

Let  us  examine,  for  a  moment,  the  real  meaning 
of  these  words. 

When  God  first  made  man,  he  committed  the 
life  of  the  w^hole  family  to  Adam  as  their  head  and 
representative,  that  they  might  stand  or  fall  in  him; 
but,  notwithstanding  Adam  was  made  perfect,  and 
had  but  a  single  restraint  imposed  upon  him  as  a 
test  of  his  fidelity,  he  fell ;  and  by  this  one  apostacy 
brought  death  and  ruin  upon  his  whole  posterity. 
Now,  in  restoring  men  to  his  favour  under  the  gra- 
cious system  of  the  Gospel,  God  says,  "  I  will  not 
commit  your  eternal  interests  into  your  own  hands ; 
if  I  do,  so  weak  are  you,  so  encompassed  with 
temptations,  so  prone  to  disobedience,  what  can  I 
hope  but  that  you  will  cast  them  all  away  and  per- 
ish, I  will  give  you  another  covenant  representative 
and  head,  even  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased,  and  commit  all  your  interests  to  him.  He 
shall  be  your  hope.  He  shall  be  your  life.  Your 
life  shall  be  hid  with  Christ  in  God ;  then  shall  I 
be  sure  that  no  enemy  shall  prevail  against  you,  for 
he  is  mighty  io  save,  and  none  can  pluck  you  out  of 
his  hands." 

But  this  full  and  final  security  of  a  believer's 
hopes  does  not  depend  upon  any  single  passage  of 
the  Scriptures.  I  consider  it  the  statement  of  the 
whole  Scriptures,  and  inseparably  connected  with 


324  GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.       [lECT.  VII. 

the  Gospel  as  a  system  of  unsearchable  grace. 
Every  truly  believing  soul  is  given  into  the  hands 
of  the  Redeemer,  that  he  may  keep  it  by  his  own 
power,  "  through  faith  unto  salvation."  In  his  in- 
tercession with  the  Father,  recorded  in  the  17th  of 
John,  he  affirms,  that  of  those  who  had  been  given 
to  him,  he  had  lost  none ;  that  they  had  kept  his 
word,  and  he  had  bestowed  eternal  life  upon  them, 
according  to  the  divine  covenant.  St.  Paul,  in  ad- 
dressing the  Philippians,  was  confident  that  he  who 
had  begun  a  good  work  in  them  would  carry  it  on 
unto  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  He  knew  that  the 
same  Lord  would  be  the  finisher,  who  had  been  the 
author  of  every  true  faith ;  and  from  this  confidence 
he  pressed  upon  every  believing  soul  the  assurance 
that  the  Lord  would  never  leave  or  forsake  them, 
so  that  they  might  boldly  say,  "  The  Lord  is  my 
helper,  I  will  not  fear  what  man  can  do  unto  me  f 
and  all  might  trust  that  what  God  had  promised  he 
was  able  also  to  perform. 

This  security  which  the  Gospel  offers  to  every 
sinner  who  flees  to  it  for  refuge,  gloriously  exhibits 
its  unsearchable  riches  of  grace.  It  gives  us  an  in- 
estimable hope.  It  assures  us  that  if  we  are  ready 
to  commit  ourselves  to  Jesus,  "  he  is  able  to  keep  us 
from  falling,  and  to  present  us  before  the  throne  of 
his  glory  with  exceeding  joy."  It  bids  us  be  careful 
for  nothing,  but  live  the  life  we  now  life  in  the  flesh, 
by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  "  who  loved  us  and  gave 
himself  for  us,"  to  know  and  remember,  in  whom  we 
have  believed,  and  to  be  assured,  that  he  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  we  have  committed  to  him  unto 
that  day,  and  to  preserve  us  blameless  unto  his 
heavenly  kingdom. 


LECT.  VII.]       GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.  325 

Thus  are  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Gospel  grace 
displayed.  It  offers  with  the  utmost  freedom  to 
every  sinner,  all  the  privileges  and  mercies  which 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hq^h  purchased.  If  he  is 
willing  freely  to  accept  them,  it  bestows  upon  him 
fully  and  perfectly  a  covenant  title  to  salvation,  and 
all  things  which  accompany  salvation ;  it  communi- 
cates every  holy  habit  and  grace,  and  enables  him 
to  walk  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing ;  makes 
him  humble,  and  watchful,  and  persevering  ;  and  to 
shew  its  ability  to  save  unto  the  uttermost,  it  se- 
cures to  him  finally  and  unalterably,  the  blessings 
which  it  has  freely  promised,  and  for  the  enjoyment 
of  which  it  has  fully  prepared  him. 

IV.  These  unsearchable  riches  of  grace  I  desire 
with  my  whole  heart  and  strength  to  press  upon 
your  acceptance.  I  would  have  you  experience  in 
your  souls,  the  worth,  the  unspeakable  worth  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  and  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all 
saints,  that  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowl- 
edge, that  your  souls  may  be  filled  with  the  fulness 
of  God.  These  provisions  of  the  Gospel  are  suffi- 
cient for  you  all.  They  are  perfectly  sufficient  for 
the  comfort^  the  holiness  and  the  fall  salvation  of 
every  soul  who  is  ready  to  receive  them. 

They  are  sufficient  for  your  comfort.  If  there  be 
any  of  you  brought  by  a  view  of  their  own  sinful- 
ness to  the  very  borders  of  despair,  what  can  they 
need  more  than  to  hear  that  God  himself  has  under- 
taken their  cause,  has  assumed  their  nature,  and  ex- 
piated their  guilt  by  his  own  sufferings  unto  death  7 
What  could  they  wish  to  add  to  this  ?  What  can, 
by  any  possibility,  be  added  to  it  ?  If  this  be  not 
sufficient,  what  can  be?    Your  sins,  though  they 


326  GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.       [lECT.  VII. 

were  more  and  more  aggravated  than  those  of  any- 
human  being,  are  but  finite  still ;  they  are  many,  but 
they  may  be  numbered.  The  atonement  which  is 
offered  for  you,  and  the  righteousness  which  is 
wrought  out  for  you,  are  of  infinite  value.  The 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  will  cleanse  from  all  sin,  and 
all  who  believe  in  him  will  be  justified  from  all 
things,  from  which  they  could  not  be  justified  by  the 
law  of  Moses.  Let  a  man's  sins  be  of  never  so  deep 
a  die,  they  cannot  be  more  red  than  scarlet  and 
crimson,  and  these  can  be  made  as  white  as  snow. 
We  can  hardly  conceive  of  greater  guilt  than 
David's,  after  all  the  mercies  which  he  had  re- 
ceived ;  and  yet  he  prays,  and  prays  with  success, 
"  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean ;  wash 
me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow  ;"  and  then  he 
acknowledges  the  abundant  efficacy  of  the  remedy, 
"  Thou  hast  made  the  bones  which  thou  hast 
broken  to  rejoice."  What  abundant  instances  the 
history  of  the  church  has  given  of  the  sufficiency  of 
the  Gospel  for  the  sinner's  comfort.  Behold  three 
thousand  Jews  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  whose  hands 
were  yet  stained  with  a  Saviour's  blood — scarcely 
one  hour  had  they  believed  in  this  crucified  Lord, 
before  they  "  all  ate  their  bread  with  gladness  and 
singleness  of  heart,  blessing  and  praising  God." 
Behold  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch,  going  on  his  way  re- 
joicing ;  and  Saul  of  Tarsus  straightway  preaching 
Christ  whom  he  had  laboured  to  destroy.  Thus, 
wherever  Christ  is  preached  and  received,  true  joy 
springs  up  in  the  heart.  "  Though  we  see  him  not, 
yet  believing  in  him,  we  may  rejoice  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory."  This  is,  and  is  to  be, 
the  invariable  effect  of  a  proper  acceptance  of  the 


LECT.  VII.]       CfRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.  327 

Gospel  throughout  the  earth.  "  Sing,  O  ye  heav- 
ens," says  the  prophet,  in  looking  forward  to  this 
day,  "  for  the  Lord  hath  done  it ;  shout,  ye  lower 
parts  of  the  earth  ;  break  forth  into  singing  ye 
mountains,  O  forest,  and  every  tree  therein,  for  the 
Lord  hath  redeemed  Jacob,  and  glorified  himself  in 
Israel."  Only  let  the  Gospel  descend  as  the  dew 
upon  any  place,  or  upon  any  soul,  and  "  the  wilder- 
ness will  be  glad,  and  the  desert  will  rejoice  and 
blossom  as  the  rose ;"  for  the  Lord,  by  the  minis- 
trations of  its  unsearchable  riches  of  grace,  will  com- 
fort Zion  ;  he  will  comfort  all  her  waste  places ;  he 
will  make  her  wilderness  like  Eden,  and  her  desert 
like  the  garden  of  the  Lord  ;  joy  and  gladness  shall 
be  found  in  every  habitation ;  and  in  every  soul 
which  receives  this  Gospel,  thanksgiving  and  the 
voice  of  melody.  There  is  not  a  human  sorrow 
which  it  cannot  console ;  and  if  you  will  accept  its 
invitations  and  offers,  it  will  be  found  an  abundant 
source  of  comfort  to  you  all. 

These  unsearchable  provisions  of  grace  are  suffi- 
cient for  the  holiness  of  every  sinner  who  believes  in 
Jesus.  Nothing  can  ever  change  the  heart  of  man 
but  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  Philosophy  and  moral 
precepts  labour  in  vain  to  renew  the  character  of 
the  sinner.  But  where  the  Gospel  is  truly  preaclied, 
and  truly  received,  the  passions  of  men  are  subdued, 
their  lusts  are  mortified,  their  habits  are  changed, 
their  dispositions  are  made  new,  and  they  are  turned 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  The  Gospel 
can  make  you  all  holy ;  it  reveals  to  you,  and  brings 
into  union  with  you,  a  dying  Saviour  in  all  the  won- 
ders of  his  love,  and  thus  will  create  in  your  souls  a 
desire  to  love  and  serve  him.     It  shews  you  that 


328         GRACE  OP  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.        [lECT.  VII. 

you  are  bought  with  a  price,  and  then,  for  this  rea- 
son, gives  you  a  desire  to  glorify  God  in  your  bodies 
and  spirits,  which  are  his.  To  carry  these  new  de- 
sires into  effect,  it  brings  down  the  Holy  Spirit  into 
your  souls,  and  thus  strengthens,  you  with  might  in 
your  inner  man,  and  works  within  you  every  good 
work ;  sanctifies  you  in  soul,  body  and  spirit,  and 
renders  you  meet  to  become  partakers  of  the  inheri- 
tance of  the  saints  in  light.  It  will  fill  you  with 
new  principles,  and  impart  to  you  new  powers,  and 
give  you  purposes  and  dispositions  to  which  you 
have  been  entire  strangers.  Your  characters  may 
be  entirely  purified  and  cleansed,  if  you  are  willing 
to  embrace  these  unsearchable  riches  of  mercy  which 
are  offered  you  in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus. 

And  finally,  these  provisions  of  grace  are  sufiicient 
for  your  fall  and  complete  salvation.  You  cannot  be 
placed  in  a  situation  in  which  they  will  not  afford 
you  strength  equal  to  your  day.  They  will  make 
you  conquerors,  and  more  than  conquerors.  They 
will  render  your  very  troubles  a  source  of  joy,  and 
your  conflicts  an  occasion  for  more  exalted  triumphs. 

Like  Paul,  you  may  glory  in  infirmities,  while  tlie 
power  of  Christ  rests  upon  you.  Like  him  you  may 
rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  death,  when  to  depart  is  to 
be  with  Christ.  Like  him  you  may  triumph  in  the 
inseparable  love  of  Jesus,  and  the  complete  salvation 
which  he  affords,  if  you  are  ready  to  count  every- 
thing but  loss  for  his  sake ;  and  with  him  the  Gos- 
pel shall  so  carry  you  through  things  temporal,  that 
you  shall  in  no  wise  lose  the  things  eternal. 

And  now  let  me  beseech  you  to  receive  these  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ.  Here  is  bread  from 
heaven  for  the  famishing,  and  living  waters  for  the 


LECT.  VII.]      GRACE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  DIVINE  GIFT.  329 

weary  and  thirsting  soul.  Would  to  God  you  all 
felt  your  need  of  them,  and  would  hunger  and  thirst 
for  no  other  supplies  than  these  !  O  let  none  de- 
spise this  gracious  supply.  Whether  you  are  old  or 
young,  learned  or  unlearned,  rich  or  poor,  Christ  is 
alike  needful  for  you,  and  will  be  alike  sufficient  for 
you.  Do  not  persuade  yourselves  that  he  is  unne- 
cessary to  you.  Do  not  pour  contempt  upon  him, 
as  unsuitable.  Do  not  attempt  to  add  to  him,  as 
insufficient;  but  accept  him,  and  live  upon  him  as 
all  your  salvation  and  all  your  desire.  Gather  this 
bread  of  heaven  as  your  daily  portion,  and  refresh 
yourselves  by  this  living  fountain  as  your  whole  de- 
light ;  and  in  the  strength  of  this  food,  go  on  your 
way  rejoicing.  And  as  ye  have  received  Jesus 
Christ  the  Lord,  so  walk  ye  in  him ;  rooted  and 
built  up  in  him,  and  established  in  the  faith  as  ye 
have  been  taught,  abounding  therein  with  all  thanks- 
giving. 


LECTURE    VIII. 

THE  GLORY  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AS  A  REVELATION  OP  GOD. 

And  Moses  said,  I  beseech  thee  shew  me  thy  gloiy.  And  he  said,  I  will 
make  all  my  goodness  pass  before  thee,  and  I  will  proclaim  the  name  of  the 
Lord  before  thee. — Exodus  xxxiii.  18,  19, 

The  privileges  granted  to  Moses  in  his  communi- 
cations with  God  were  altogether  peculiar.  It  is 
said  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a 
man  speaketh  unto  his  friend ;  and  the  testimony  is 
added  after  his  death,  that  there  arose  no  other 
prophet  in  Israel  like  unto  Moses,  whom  the  Lord 
knew  face  to  face,  in  all  the  signs  and  wonders 
which  the  Lord  sent  him  to  do  in  the  sight  of  all 
Israel.  God  revealed  his  will  to  other  prophets  be- 
fore and  after  the  time  of  Moses.  But  no  one  had 
the  same  view  of  the  divine  character,  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  divine  purposes,  which  was  allowed  \j9 
him.  This  difference  in  the  method  of  his  commu- 
nications, God  refers  to  in  the  controversy  which 
arose  from  Aaron  and  Miriam  against  Moses.  "  And 
he  said,  hear  now  my  words  :  If  there  be  a  prophet 
among  you,  I  the  Lord  will  make  myself  known  unto 
him  in  a  vision,  and  will  speak  unto  him  in  a  dream. 
My  servant  Moses  is  not  so,  who  is  faithful  in  all 
mine  house  ;  with  him  will  I  speak  mouth  to  mouth, 
even  apparently,  and  not  in  dark  speeches ;  and  the 
similitude  of  the  Lord  shall  he  behold." 


LECT.  VIII.]  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL,    ETC.  331 

This  "  similitude  of  the  Lord,"  or  the  apparent 
glory  of  the  divine  presence,  Moses  saw  continually 
while  he  was  receiving  the  law  from  God  on  the 
mount.  The  cloud  into  which  he  then  entered,  was 
the  cloud  of  divine  glory  that  overshadowed  the 
mountain.  The  request  of  our  text  was  made  after 
his  having  been  forty  days  in  the  mount.  It  was 
presented  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  Moses  had 
pitched  the  tabernacle  without  the  camp ;  and  when 
he  went  forth  to  enter  into  the  tabernacle,  the 
cloudy  pillar  descended  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle ;  and  the  Lord  talked  with  Moses,  speak- 
ing to  him  face  to  face,  or  in  the  niost  free  and  inti- 
mate communication,  as  a  man  talketh  with  his 
friend.  The  conversation  which  was  then  held,  in- 
cludes the  request  of  our  text.  "  And  Moses  said 
unto  the  Lord,  See,  thou  sayest  unto  me.  Bring  up 
this  people,  and  thou  hast  not  let  me  know  whom 
thou  wilt  send  with  me,  yet  thou  hast  said,  I  know 
thee  by  name,  and  thou  hast  also  found  grace  in  my 
sight.  Now  therefore  I  pray  thee,  if  I  have  found 
grace  in  thy  sight,  shew  me  now  thy  way,  that  I 
may  know  thee,  that  I  may  find  grace  in  thy  sight, 
and  consider  that  this  nation  is  thy  people.  And  he 
said,  My  presence  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I  will  give 
thee  rest.  And  he  said  unto  him.  If  thy  presence  go 
not  with  me,  carry  us  not  up  hence.  For  wherein 
shall  it  be  known  here,  that  I  and  thy  people  have 
found  grace  in  thy  sight  ?  Is  it  not  in  that  thou 
goest  with  us?  So  shall  we  be  separated,  I  and 
thy  people,  from  all  the  people  that  are  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
I  will  do  this  thing  also  that  thou  hast  spoken  ;  for 
thou  hast  found  grace  in  my  sight,  and  I  know  thee 


332  GLORY    OP   THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  VIII. 

by  name.    And  he  said,  I  beseech  thee  shew  me 
thy  glory." 

Moses'  petition  here,  pointed  to  some  more  clear 
and  significant  exhibition  of  the  divine  character 
than  he  had  yet  received.  What  he  had  seen  of 
God's  purposes  and  government,  in  the  revelations 
which  had  been  made  to  him,  impressed  the  convic- 
tion upon  his  mind,  that  there  was  to  be  a  further 
manifestation  of  God  to  man  than  any  which  he 
had  yet  distinctly  understood,  and  excited  the  desire 
in  him  to  behold  these  peculiar  exhibitions  of  divine 
glory  which  should  be  made  to  God's  people  in  sub- 
sequent ages.  All  that  had  been  made  known  to 
him  was  in  preparation  for  some  future  development 
of  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  that  glory  to  which  his 
institutions  were  thus  an  introduction,  he  longed  to 
witness :  '^  And  he  said,  I  beseech  thee  shew  me  thy 
glory."  In  answer  to  this  prayer  God  promised  to 
give  him  the  exhibition  of  his  glory  which  he  de- 
sired; and  in  complying  with  his  promise,  he  re- 
vealed to  him,  as  the  highest  possible  manifestation 
of  his  glory,  those  purposes  of  grace  and  love  which 
were  to  be  made  known  and  accomplished  by  the 
Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

These  remarks  naturally  lead  me  here  to  announce 
the  particular  subject  which  I  design  to  consider,  as 
connected  with  the  prayer  of  Moses.  It  is  the  glory 
of  the  Gospel  as  an  exhibition  of  the  divine  character. 

I.  That  I  do  not  here  go  aside  from  the  real  in- 
tention and  meaning  of  the  passage,  it  will  be  my 
object  first  to  shew. 

Moses'  desire  was  for  some  fuller  exhibition  of  the 
character  of  God.  In  promising  compliance  with 
this  desire,  God  does  not  direct  him  to  the  icorks  of 


LECT.  VIII.]  AS    A    REVELATION    OF    GOD.  333 

creation;  although,  from  them  the  invisible  things 
of  him  are  clearly  seen,  even  his  eternal  power  and 
Godhead.  He  does  not  tell  him  to  look  upon  the 
sun  as  it  shined,  and  the  moon  w^alking  in  bright- 
ness, and  there  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord  who 
hath  created  these  things ;  who  bringeth  out  their 
hosts  by  number;  who  calleth  them  all  by  their 
names,  by  the  greatness  of  his  might,  for  that  he  is 
strong  in  power,  and  not  one  faileth. 

He  does  not  tell  him  to  look  upon  the  awful  thun- 
ders and  earthquakes,  and  unearthly  sounds  with 
which  the  laio  had  been  given  upon  Mount  Sinai, 
still  trembling  beneath  the  footsteps  of  a  descending 
Deity ;  upon  the  solemn  and  awakening  displays 
which  were  there  made  of  the  holiness  of  a  God 
who  cannot  look  upon  iniquity;  although  here  as 
well  as  in  the  wonders  of  creation,  it  had  been  often 
declared  that  God  had  shewed  his  glory  to  men. 

Neither  the  glory  of  divine  power  displayed  in 
the  creation,  nor  the  glory  of  divine  holiness  ex- 
hibited in  the  law,  was  that  manifestation  of  the 
Deity,  which  God  chose  to  style  peculiarly  his  glory. 
And,  passing  by  both  these,  were  there  no  notice 
of  what  he  did  intend,  we  should  be  left  to  settle 
upon  the  Gospel,  as  the  only  remaining  manifesta- 
tion of  the  divine  character  which  has  been  made 
to  man. 

But  the  Lord  describes  his  purpose  and  design 
most  significantly.  He  says,  "  I  will  make  all  my 
goodness  pass  before  thee."  But  where  has  all  the 
goodness  of  the  Lord  been  exhibited,  but  in  that 
wonderful  dispensation  in  which  was  manifested  the 
love  of  God,  in  that  he  sent  his  Son  to  die  for  us  7 
and  how  could  all  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  pass  be- 


334  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [leCT.  VIII. 

fore  any  mind,  from  which  the  riches  of  Gospel 
grace  were  concealed  1  "  And  I  will  proclaim  the 
name  of  the  Lord  before  thee ;  and  I  will  be  gra- 
cious on  whom  I  will  be  gracious  ;  and  I  w411  shew 
mercy  on  whom  I  will  shew  mercy."  But  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  as  bestowing  sovereign  grace  and  mercy, 
can  be  proclaimed  only  in  that  Gospel  which  an- 
nounces God  manifest  in  the  flesh  for  sinners,  and 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwelling  bodily  in  a  man 
of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief  Under  no 
other  dispensation  can  God  be  gracious  and  merciful 
to  sinners,  for  no  other  one  makes  atonement  for  sin. 
Still  more  minutely  describing  his  purpose,  God 
assures  Moses,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  * 
mortal  to  behold  the  full  glory  of  his  presence.  "  No 
man  can  see  my  face  and  live."  He  dwells  in  light 
inaccessible  which  no  man  can  approach  unto.  No 
man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten 
Son  that  dwelleth  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he 
hath  manifested  him.  And  referring  to  this  new 
and  lasting  way  of  intercourse  between  himself  and 
sinful  men,  God  says,  "  There  is  a  place  by  me,  and 
thou  shalt  stand  upon  a  7*oc/c,  and  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  while  my  glory  passeth  by,  I  will  put  thee  in 
the  cleft  of  the  rock,  and  will  cover  thee  with  my 
hand  while  I  pass  by."  That  rock  was  Christ,  and 
here  is  presented  the  perfect  security  with  which 
the  glory  of  God  is  beheld  under  the  Gospel.  The 
believer  is  hidden  in  a  cleft  of  the  rock ;  while  even 
there,  but  partial  displays  are  yet  made  to  him  of 
the  divine  glory.  "  I  will  take  away  my  hand,  and 
thou  shalt  see  my  back  parts,  but  my  face  shall  not 
be  seen."  We  know  not  yet  what  we  shall  be,  but 
we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be 


LECT.  VIII.]  AS    A    REVELATION    OF    GOD.  *SS5 

like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is ;  and  even 
now,  though  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing  in  him, 
we  rejoice  with  unspeakable  and  glorified  joy. 

Thus  in  answer  to  the  request  of  Moses,  the  Lord 
promised  to  make  known  to  him  the  rich  grace 
which  he  had  prepared  and  designed  to  reveal  to 
men,  in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  as  the  peculiar  glory 
of  his  character  ;  and  thus  made  known  that  all-im- 
portant truth,  which  angels  united  to  repeat  on  the 
eve  of  the  incarnation,  that  the  dispensation  which 
brings  peace  on  earth,  and  proclaims  good  will  to 
men,  brings  "  glory  in  the  highest,"  to  the  character 
of  God. 

This  was  the  promise  to  Moses.  It  was  to  be 
fulfilled  on  the  ensuing  day  ^  and  early  in  the  morn- 
ing Moses  rose  up,  and  went  up  unto  Mount  Sinai, 
as  the  Lord  had  commanded  him.  ''  And  the  Lord 
descended  in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with  him  there, 
and  proclaimed  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the 
Lord  passed  by  before  him  and  proclaimed.  The 
Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long- 
suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keep- 
ing mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  and  trans- 
gression, and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear 
the  guilty ;  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children,  and  upon  the  children's  children,  unto 
the  third  and  to  the  fourth  generation.  And  Moses 
made  haste,  and  bowed  his  head  toward  the  earth, 
and  worshipped." 

Here  the  Lord  proclaimed  his  name  and  his  glory, 
and  to  do  it  he  revealed  his  purposes  of  grace,  which 
were  to  be  accomplished  in  Christ  Jesus ;  recording 
it  forever,  that  in  nothing  is  the  glory  of  the  Lord  so 
wonderfully  displayed,  as  in  the  grace  which  passes 


336  GLORY    OP   THE    GOSPEL  [leCT.  Vflf, 

by  transgressions  and  sins ;  according  to  that  ex- 
clamation of  the  prophet,  in  looking  forward  to  the 
Gospel  revelation,  "  Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee, 
that  pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  trans- 
gression of  the  remnant  of  his  heritage?  He  re- 
taineth  not  his  anger  forever,  because  he  delighteth 
in  mercy.  He  w^ill  turn  again  and  have  compassion 
on  us ;  he  will  subdue  our  iniquities,  and  thou  wilt 
cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea." 

II.  If  then  God  preached  the  Gospel  to  Moses  as 
the  peculiar  manifestation  of  his  glory,  which  is  thus 
apparent,  I  am  warranted  in  speaking  from  this  pas- 
sage, of  the  glory  of  the  Gospel,  as  the  clearest  and 
most  glorious  exhibition  of  the  Deity  which  has  been 
made  to  man.  The  Old  Testament  is  filled  with 
predictions  and  types,  all  pointing  to  the  same  glory 
in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  The  temple  of  the  Lord  is 
called  a  glorious  rest;  a  glorious  high  throne;  a 
house  of  glory,  of  beauty,  of  holiness ;  and  it  is  said, 
that  at  the  dedication  of  it,  "  th«  glory  of  the  Lord 
filled  the  house  of  the  Lord."  This  glory  was  the 
cloud  which  manifested  the  especial  presence  of  the 
I^ord.  But  yet  the  glory  of  the  latter  house  was  to 
be  greater  than  the  glory  of  the  former  house,  be- 
cause tliere  the  sun  of  righteousness  w^as  to  arise, 
with  healing  in  his  wings,  and  the  Gospel  was  to  be 
preached,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from 
heaven.  In  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  the  dispensation 
of  grace  and  mercy  which  has  been  made  through 
him  to  man,  God  has  revealed  his  character  and 
will  to  us,  in  a  peculiar  degree,  and  therefore  it  is 
styled,  in  the  highest  possible  language  of  honour, 
"  The  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God." 

In  all  the  works  of  God  there  is  glory,  because 


LECT.  VIII.]  A3    A    REVELATION    OP    GOD.  337 

they  are  his.  David  for  this  reason  employs  the 
terms  glory  and  handytcorkj  promiscuously  for  the 
same  tiling.  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God,  and  the  firmament  sheweth  his  handy  work." 
Whatever  he  does  is  glorious  from  his  own  charac- 
ter. But  the  more  he  communicates  of  himself  to 
any  of  his  works,  the  more  glorious  they  are ;  and 
therefore,  in  the  very  passage  in  which  David  cele- 
brates the  glory  of  creation,  he  shews  the  higher 
glory  of  the  divine  revelation  and  law.  "  The  law 
of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul ;  the 
statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right,  rejoicing  the  heart." 

Men  stand  in  higher  rank  than  brutes,  and  the  an- 
gels in  heaven  mount  up  in  loftier  grades  than  men, 
simply  upon  this  principle,  that  the  more  of  his  own 
image  God  has  bestowed  upon  any  of  his  creatures, 
the  higher  in  station  and  the  more  glorious  in  ap- 
pearance they  are.  But,  of  all  the  manifestations 
of  himself  which  the  Deity  has  made,  there  is  none 
in  which  he  may  be  so  fully  known,  communicated 
with,  depended  upon  and  praised,  as  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus.  This  is  a  glass,  in  which  the  angels  who 
surround  his  throne,  see  and  admire  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  grace ;  and  in  which  they  behold,  in 
his  mercy  to  men,  a  revelation  of  his  character,  that 
they  never  elsewhere  witnessed. 

In  creation  and  providence,  God  is  seen  clearly 
and  wonderfully ;  but  it  is  only  as  a  God  of  power 
and  wisdom,  producing  and  upholding  all  things  to 
promote  the  glorious  end  for  which  he  has  designed 
them.  In  the  law,  God  is  displayed  solemnly  and 
truly  ;  but  it  is  only  as  a  God  of  vengeance  and  rec- 
ompense threatening  and  executing  wrath  upon  those 
who  offend  against  him.     But  in  the  Gospel  he  is 

15 


338  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  VIII. 

exhibited  as  a  God  of  boundless  compassion,  as  a 
God  of  love ;  and  his  power  and  his  wisdom,  and 
his  faithfulness,  all  come  in  as  subservient  to  his 
bounty  and  grace.  Here  we  behold  his  glory,  full 
of  grace  and  truth.  We  see  him  humbling  himself, 
that  he  might  be  merciful  to  his  enemies  ;  suffering 
in  himself,  that  he  might  bear  the  punishment  of 
their  transgressions  ;  and  removing  every  obstacle  to 
their  forgiveness  and  acceptance,  that  he  might  not 
only  ofter  them  pardon,  but  beseech  them  to  be  par- 
doned, and  reconciled  to  him  again.  In  the  creation, 
he  is  a  God  above  us  ;  in  the  law,  he  is  a  God  against 
us ;  in  the  Gospel  alone,  he  is  "  Immanuel ;"  God 
with  us,  God  like  us,  God  for  us. 

It  is  the  Gospel  which  reveals  God  to  us  as  he  is. 
He  is  invisible  in  himself;  we  cannot  see  him  but 
in  his  Son.  He  is  inaccessible  in  himself;  we  can- 
not approach  him  but  through  his  Son.  Would  we 
therefore  behold  his  glory,  we  must  seek  it  in  the 
acceptance  and  study  of  that  dispensation  which 
proclaims  him  to  be  "  the  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  mer- 
ciful and  gracious,  long-suffering,  abundant  in  good- 
ness and  truth,  keeping  inercy  for  thousands,  forgiv- 
ing iniquity,  transgression  and  sin !" 

III.  But  while  I  make  these  general  assertions  of 
the  Gospel,  as  a  revelation  of  the  character  of  God, 
and  proclaim  its  glory  as  a  dispensation,  on  this  ac- 
count it  will  be  more  satisfactory  to  look  into  its 
contents  more  minutely,  and  see  how  the  Gospel 
exhibits  in  their  full  glory  the  different  perfections 
of  the  divine  character. 

The  great  object  which  God  designed  to  secure 
by  the  Gospel,  was  the  salvation  of  men.  To  the 
attainment  of  this  object,  the  attributes  of  God  in- 


LECT.  VIII.]  AS    A    REVlftAtibN    OF   GOD. 

terposed  serious  obstacles.  In  the  dispensation  of 
the  Gospel,  these  obstacles  have  been  removed,  and 
the  attributes  of  God  displayed  in  consistent  and 
glorious  operation.  Just  in  proportion  in  which 
there  was  difficulty  in  reconciling  the  divine  perfec- 
tions, does  the  Gospel  which  has  accomplished  this 
reconciliation,  display  their  glory  and  manifest  its 
own  excellency.  By  it  the  perfections  of  God  are 
far  more  gloriously  exhibitedj  than  they  could  be  in 
any  other  method.  For  instance,  suppose  that  man, 
with  all  his  descendants,  had  been  consigned  to  mis- 
ery as  the  consequence  of  his  sin.  The  justice  of 
God  would  have  appeared,  and  his  truth  would  also 
have  been  seen  ;  but  it  would  not  have  been  know^n 
tliat  there  existed  in  the  Deity  such  an  attribute  as 
mercy  ;  or  that  if  it  did  exist  in  him,  it  could  ever 
find  a  fit  scope  for  exercise,  since  the  exercise  of  it 
must  necessarily  involve  in  it,  some  remission  of  the 
rights  of  justice,  and  some  encroachments  upon  the 
honour  of  the  law.  On  the  other  hand,  if  free  and 
full  remission  of  sins  had  been  granted  unto  man,  it 
would  not  have  been  seen,  how  such  an  act  of  grace 
could  be  consistent  with  the  rights  of  justice,  and 
holiness,  and  truth.  In  either  of  these  alternatives, 
the  character  of  God  would  have  been  but  partially 
dis^played,  and  his  creatures  would  never  have  seen 
him  as  he  is.  But  in  the  method  of  salvation  which 
the  Gospel  reveals^  not  only  are  all  these  perfections 
reconciled,  but  they  are  all  enhanced  and  glorified  ; 
and  a  tenfold  lustre  is  thrown  upon  them  from  the 
Gospel,  beyond  what  could  ever  have  beamed  forth 
in  any  other  way.  We  will  consider  some  of  these 
distinctly. 
*  -1.  The  Gospel  exhibits  the  divine  justice  far  more 


340  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  VIII. 

gloriously  than  it  would  have  been  displayed  in  the 
condemnation  of  the  whole  human  race.  Behold 
the  view  of  justice  which  it  presents.  The  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  "  God  over  all,"  puts  himself  in  the 
place  of  sinful  man,  and  undertakes  to  endure  for 
man  all  that  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  have  mer- 
ited. But  will  justice  venture  to  seize  on  him>7 
Will  it  draw  its  sword  against  him  who  is  Jehovah's 
fellow  7  Will  not  the  sword  of  justice,  stretched 
out  against  him,  refuse  to  execute  its  appointed 
work?  No.  Sin  is  found  on  our  incarnate  God. 
It  is  true,  it  is  on  him  only  by  imputation ;  yet  be- 
ing imputed  to  him,  he  must  be  answerable  for  it, 
and  endure  all  that  it  has  merited  from  the  hands  of 
God.  Behold,  then,  for  the  honour  of  God's  justice, 
the  cup  is  put  into  the  hands  of  our  blessed  Lord, 
and  the  very  dregs  of  its  bitterness  are  given  him  to 
drink  ;  nor  is  he  released  from  his  sufferings  until  he 
can  say,  "  It  is  finished.  I  have  finished  the  work 
thou  hast  given  me  to  do."  Contemplate  this  mys- 
terious fact.  The  God  of  heaven  and  earth  becomes 
man.  By  his  obedience  and  death,  he  satisfies  the 
demands  of  law  and  justice,  in  order  that  God  may 
be  just,  and  yet  the  justifier  of  them  that  believe  in 
Christ  Jesus.  With  nothing  less  than  this  could 
justice  be  satisfied.  It  could  not  consent  to  the  sal- 
vation of  a  single  human  being  on  any  other  terms. 
Behold,  then,  how  exalted  is  its  character !  how  in- 
alienable are  its  rights !  how  inexorable  are  its  de- 
mands !  In  all  that  it  inflicts  upon  men  and  angels, 
it  is  not  so  highly  glorified  as  in  this  stupendous 
i^ystery. 

2.  But  if  the  Gospel  so  gloriously  exhibits  divine 
justice,  see  how  it  displays  the  divine  mercy.     This 


LECT.  VIII.]  AS    A    REVELATION    OF    GOD.  341 

attribute  would  have  been  displayed,  if  man,  by  a 
mere  sovereign  act  of  grace,  had  been  pardoned. 
But  it  would  then  have  triumphed  over  the  conceal- 
ment of  all  other  attributes  of  the  Deity.  It  shall 
be  brought  to  light,  but  only  in  such  a  way  as  shall 
consist  with  the  honour  of  every  other  attribute,  in 
a  way  by  which  God  may  be  "  a  just  God  and  a 
Saviour."  God's  dear  Son  shall  be  substituted  in 
the  place  of  sinners.  The  Creator  of  the  universe 
shall  become  a  man.  He  shall  have  the  sins  of  a 
rebellious  world  laid  upon  him,  that  man,  worthless 
man,  may  be  spared.  Shall  mercy  be  exercised 
with  such  a  sacrifice  as  this  7  Yes.  Everything 
but  God's  honour  shall  give  way  to  it ;  and  when 
thai  can  be  secured,  no  sacrifice  shall  be  esteemed 
too  great  to  save  a  perishing  world. 

Go  now  to  Bethlehem,  and  see  that  new-born 
infant,  your  incarnate  Lord,  "God  manifest  in  the 
flesh."  Who  sent  him  thither  7  Who  brought  him 
from  his  throne  of  glory  into  this  world  of  wretch- 
edness and  sin  7  It  was  mercy  struggling  in  the 
bosom  of  Almighty  God,  and  prevailing  for  devel- 
opment in  this  mysterious  way.  Go  again  to  Geth- 
semane  and  Calvary ;  behold  that  innocent  sufferer 
prostrate  upon  the  earth,  bathed  in  a  bloody  sweat, 
suspended  on  the  cross,  agonizing  under  the  load  of 
his  creatures'  guilt,  crying  in  the  depths  of  sorrow, 
"  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  T 
Who  has  brought  him  to  this  state  7  It  was  mercy. 
Mercy  would  not  rest ;  it  would  break  forth  ;  rather 
than  not  exercise  itself  towards  mankind,  it  would 
transfer  to  God  himself  the  penalty  due  to  them ; 
and  write,  in  the  blood  of  an  infinite  and  holy  Sav- 
iour, the  pardon  it  designed  for  sinful  man.    How 


342  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  VIIL 

glorious  is  this  display  of  mercy  ;  and  where  but  in 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  could  it  be  beheld  so  honoura- 
bly and  so  clearly  exhibited  7 

3.  Add  to  this  glorious  exhibition  of  justice  and 
mercy,  the  manifestation  which  the  Gospel  makes 
of  divine  faithfulness  and  truths  and  you  will  see  suf- 
ficient reason  why,  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  Moses, 
''  Shew  me  thy  glory,"—  God  should  preach  to  him 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

God  had  surely  threatened  death  as  the  punish- 
ment of  sin.  When,  therefore,  man  had  sinned, 
what  remained  but  that  the  penalty  denounced 
should  be  executed  immediately  7  The  word  had 
gone  forth ;  it  could  not  be  revoked,  nor  could  its 
sentence  be  reversed,  consistently  with  the  sacred 
rights  of  truth.  What  then  shall  be  done  ?  If  the 
sentence  be  executed  on  man,  the  veracity  of  God  is 
undoubtedly  displayed  and  honoured.  But  how  can 
man  be  spared^  and  God's  truth  be  preserved  in- 
violate 7  In  no  other  way  than  the  substitution  of 
God's  own  Son  in  the  sinner's  place.  This  propo- 
sal truth  willingly  accepts,  gladly  transfers  the  pen- 
alty to  him,  and  joyfully  inflicts  on  the  voluntary 
sufferer  the  sentence  denounced  against  the  offender. 
Here  "  mercy  and  truth  have  met  together  ;  righte- 
ousness and  peace  have  kissed  each  other."  All  the 
perfections  of  God  are  made  to  harmonize  in  the 
salvation  of  man,  and  all  are  displayed  in  a  more 
clear  and  glorious  manner  than  they  could  be  in  any 
other  method.  Justice  is  exercised  in  a  way  of 
mercy  ;  mercy  is  exercised  in  a  way  of  justice  ;  and 
both  of  them  are  manifested  in  the  way  of  holiness 
and  truth. 

This  is  one  view  of  the  glory  of  the  Gospel  as  a 


LECT.  VIII.]  AS    A    REVELATION    OF    GOD.  343 

divine  dispensation ; — the  clear  and  sublime  mani- 
festation which  it  makes  of  the  character  of  God. 
While  all  his  works  praise  him  and  his  saints  give 
thanks  to  him,  it  is  this  dispensation  which  pro- 
claims his  name  and  his  honour :  "  The  Lord,  the 
Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long  suffering,  and 
abundant  in  goodness  and  truth  ;  keeping  mercy  for 
thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression  and  sin ;" 
and  for  this  revelation  of  his  character,  it  is  well 
called  "  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God." 

IV.  While  this  glory  of  the  Gospel  should  lead 
us  to  speak  with  all  boldness,  and  never  to  be 
ashamed  to  declare  its  power  and  its  worth,  it 
should  lead  you  to  remember  how  worthy  it  is  of 
all  men  to  be  received.  This  faithful  saying  is 
worthy  to  be  accepted  w^ith  all  readiness  of  mind  ; 
worthy  to  be  welcomed,  like  the  star  of  the  wise 
men,  with  exceeding  great  joy ;  w^orthy  to  be  en- 
amelled in  the  crowns  of  princes,  and  to  be  written 
in  the  soul  of  every  Christian  w^ith  a  beam  of  the 
sun,  "  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners."  The  faithful  have  ever  been  ready  to 
unite  in  the  exclamation  of  the  inspired  prophet, 
*'  How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth 
good  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace,  that  bringeth 
good  tidings  of  good,  that  publisheth  salvation,  that 
saith  unto  Zion,  thy  God  reigneth."  What  man  of 
sorrow  would  not  open  his  heart  and  welcome  the 
embraces  of  that  messenger  who  was  coming  to  him 
with  more  lovely  and  acceptable  news  than  the 
very  wishes  of  his  heart  could  have  framed  for 
himself  When  Joseph  was  sent  for  out  of  prison 
to  Pharaoh's  court,  and  when  Jacob  saw  the  char- 
iots which  were  sent  to  carry  him  to  his  long  lost 


344  GLORY  OF  THE  GOSPEL        [leCT.  VIII. 

son,  their  spirits  were  revived  and  comforted  after 
their  long  distress.  But  what  are  all  good  tidings 
to  the  Gospel,  which  is  a  word  of  salvation,  which 
opens  prisons  and  releases  captives,  and  gives  a  joy 
with  which  the  world  intermeddles  not  7  "  Your 
joy  no  man  shall  take  from  you."  O  how  worthy 
is  such  a  Gospel  to  be  accepted  and  improved ! 

If  we  suffer  the  loss  of  everything  for  Christ,  god- 
liness is  great  gain  after  all.  In  a  shipwreck,  we 
throw  our  goods  overboard,  and  count  ourselves 
happy  to  get  our  life  in  exchange.  O  how  willingly, 
then,  should  the  man  who  is  convinced  of  the  dan- 
ger of  his  soul,  cast  off  everything  which  presses 
him  down ;  and  rejoice,  with  unspeakable  joy,  to 
have  his  soul  saved  from  an  eternal  shipwreck,  and 
to  be  brought  before  God  in  peace.  Have  you  no 
desires  to  see  the  glory  of  God  displayed  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ,  or  to  enjoy  the  presence  of  God, 
made  peaceful  and  happy  for  you  by  the  sprinkling 
of  the  blood  of  Jesus  7  Can  you  deliberately  make 
the  choice,  that  while  hereafter  myriads  of  ransomed 
sinners  rejoice  in  the  glories  of  a  full  salvation,  your 
souls  should  see  God  only  as  an  avenger  of  blood  7 
It  is  a  painful  alternative  which  is  presented  to  you, 
but  it  is  the  only  possible  one. 

God  is  dwelling  among  you  in  the  riches  of  Gos- 
pel invitations  and  in  the  fulness  of  spiritual  strength. 
In  the  persons  of  the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  he  would 
be  received  into  your  bosoms,  and  rule  over  all  your 
affections  and  purposes.  But  if  he  be  rejected  by 
you  to  the  end,  you  will  be  constrained  to  see  him 
appearing  in  the  glory  of  his  government,  "  to  take 
vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  obey 
not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."     The 


LECT.    VIII.]  AS    A    REVELATION    OF    GOD.  345 

glorious  Cxospel  which  is  offered  you  now,  forms  the 
highest  honour  of  your  souls.  It  brings  you  a  King 
having  salvation,  and  makes  you  with  him,  kings 
and  priests  forever.  Happy  are  the  people  that  know 
the  joyful  sound,  they  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  his 
countenance ;  and  blessed  will  you  be,  though  in  the 
midst  of  reproaches  and  tribulations,  if  you  are  led 
to  welcome  this  salvation  to  your  hearts,  and  to 
wash  your  robes  and  make  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb. 

15* 


LECTURE   IX. 

THE   GLORY  OP  THE   GOSPEL  PROM   ITS   METHOD  OF 
PUBLICATION. 

How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good 
tidings,  that  publisheth  peace,  that  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good,  that  pub- 
lisheth  salvation,  that  saith  unto  Zion,  thy  God  reigneth. — Isaiah,  li.  7. 

No  one  would  be  led  to  doubt,  probably,  in  the 
most  cursory  reading  of  this  text,  that  it  was  in- 
tended to  refer  to  the  publication  of  the  Gospel  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  if  there  should  be  such 
a  doubt,  St.  Paul  has  decided  the  proper  application 
of  the  passage,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  by  ad- 
ducing it  as  a  reason  for  sending  preachers  of  the 
Gospel  throughout  the  world.  Speaking  of  the 
messengers  of  the  Gospel,  he  says,  "  How  shall  they 
preach  except  they  be  sent  7"  as  it  is  written,  "  How 
beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that  preach  the  Gos- 
pel of  peace,  and  bring  glad  tidings  of  good  things." 

It  is  then  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  the  ministry  of 
which  is  said  to  be  so  excellent  and  desirable.  This 
Gospel,  in  its  very  name,  is  glad  tidings ;  it  is  a  pub- 
lication of  peace  between  God  and  his  alienated 
creatures.  It  is  good  tidings  of  everlasting  good, 
through  the  mediation  of  a  crucified  Redeemer,  to 
those  who  return  unto  God  and  live.  It  is  salvation, 
— full,  free,  eternal  salvation, — to  every  one  who  ac- 
cepts its  tidings  with  a  thankful  heart ;   salvation 


LECT.  IX.]      GLORY  OF  THE  GOSPEL,  ETC.  347 

from  present  despair  and  misery;  salvation  from 
everlasting  sorrow  and  punishment,  the  just  wages 
of  sin.  It  is  a  glorious  annunciation  to  Zion,  or  the 
people  of  the  living  God,  that  their  God,  an  incar- 
nate God,  a  justifying  God,  reigneth  for  evermore. 

He  who  proclaims  to  a  ruined  world  that  Jesus 
reigns  as  a  Prince  and  Saviour,  to  give  repentance 
and  forgiveness  of  sins,  in  the  proclamation  of  this 
one  great  truth,  tells  the  whole  system  of  Gospel 
grace,  publisheth  salvation,  bringeth  good  tidings  of 
good,  publisheth  peace.  The  people  who  hear  the 
joyful  sound,  are  a  highly  privileged  people;  the 
heart  that  embraces  the  glad  intelligence,  is  a  con- 
verted and  thankful  heart.  The  man  who  welcomes 
the  precious  truth,  finds  it  all  his  salvation  and  all 
his  desire.  And  the  community  and  nation  upon 
which  its  beneficial  influence  is  exerted,  is  converted 
from  a  wilderness  into  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  a 
place  in  which  the  Lord  delights  to  dwell. 

In  the  text  the  prophet  rejoices  in  a  view  of  their 
happiness  and  glory  who  are  allowed  to  minister 
this  Gospel  of  peace.  He  derives  the  figurative  ex- 
pression, "  how  beautiful  upon  the  mountains,"  from 
the  local  situation  of  Jerusalem.  That  city  was  sur- 
rounded by  mountains,  which  were  considered  alike 
its  glory  and  its  defence.  The  Psalmist  adduces 
this  peculiarity  of  its  location,  as  an  illustration  of 
divine  protection  to  the  people  of  God.  "As  the 
mountains  stand  round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord 
is  round  about  his  people,  from  henceforth,  even 
forever."  From  whatever  direction  a  messenger 
came  to  this  city,  his  path  crossed  the  mountains. 
In  the  text  the  prophet  is  carried  forward  to  hear 
the  publication  of  Gospel  mercies  ;  and  in  the  glo- 


348  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  IX. 

rious  prospect  of  this  publication  of  grace,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  own  city  furnish  him  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  emotions  of  his  own  heart. 

As  the  sight  of  a  bearer  of  any  joyful  tidings  to 
Jerusalem  was  delightful  to  those  who  watched  him 
crossing  the  surrounding  mountains,  so  in  a  still 
higher  degree,  beautiful  upon  the  mountains,  i.  e., 
beautiful  at  the  most  distant  point  from  which  they 
can  be  seen,  are  the  feet  of  him  who  comes  with 
more  joyful  and  valuable  intelligence  to  men  than 
they  have  ever  heard  before;  w^ho  comes  to  pro- 
claim to  the  waiting  people  of  God,  the  tidings  that 
their  God,  Immanuel,  reigns  as  the  Author  of  sal- 
vation, and  the  Prince  of  Everlasting  Peace.  The 
text  contains  an  extensive  exhibition  of  the  excel- 
lency and  glory  of  the  Gospel,  as  a  dispensation  of 
God's  goodness  to  man.  The  particular  view  of  this 
glory,  however,  which  it  leads  me  to  propose  to  your 
present  consideration  is,  The  glory  of  the  Gospel  aris- 
ing from  the  method  of  its  publication. 

In  considering  this  subject,  I  shall  speak, 

I.  Of  the  character  of  its  various  preachers. 

II.  Of  the  providence  which  has  attended  its  pub- 
lication. 

III.  Of  its  triumph  over  every  species  of  oppo- 
sition. 

I.  In  speaking  of  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel  in 
various  ages,  the  exclamation,  "  how  beautiful,  how 
glorious,"  may  be  most  equitably  applied.  The  Gos- 
pel has  been  at  all  times  highly  glorious  and  exalted 
in  this  aspect  of  its  publication.  God  himself,  who 
commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  who 
created  the  world,  visible  and  invisible,  by  the  word 
of  his  power,  w^as  the  first  preacher  of  these  good 


LECT.  IX.]  IN    ITS    PUBLICATION.  349 

tidings  of  good.  On  tlie  very  first  day  of  man's 
transgression,  he  descended  with  a  promise  of  grace. 
In  that  promise  he  held  forth  to  view  a  Saviour  who 
should  be  miraculously  conceived  as  man,  and  should 
be  a  bruised  and  yet  a  fina#y  triumphant  Saviour. 
This  promise  contained  the  elements  of  the  whole 
Gospel  dispensation.  And  while  Adam,  as  a  sinner 
trembled  before  the  visible  glory  of  his  Creator,  as 
a  believer  he  was  enabled  to  see  with  rejoicing,  a 
glory  in  this  exhibition  of  the  Gospel  far  more  ex- 
cellent. Through  the  whole  patriarchal  and  pro- 
phetic ages  the  Gospel  was  administered  to  the  faith 
of  men,  by  those  who  spake  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  was  glorious  in  its  ministry 
from  its  being  the  peculiar  subject  and  end  of  all 
intelligence  from  God  to  man. 

In  the  personal  ministry  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  a 
Saviour  miraculously  born,  Jehovah  incarnate  for 
man,  the  most  exalted  glory  was  connected  with  the 
Gospel.  ''  Never  man  spake  like  this  man,"  said 
they  who  were  sent  to  apprehend  him  for  punish- 
ment. All  wondered  at  the  gracious,  or  becoming 
and  ennobling  words  which  proceeded  from  his 
mouth.  All  creation  listened  to  his  voice  and  obeyed 
his  irresistible  commands.  Things  animate  and  in- 
animate alike  yielded  to  his  control ;  the  sea  heard 
him,  and  was  still ;  the  earth  heard  him,  and  opened ; 
the  dead  heard  him,  and  awoke  to  life ;  the  blood- 
thirsty multitude  of  the  Jews  heard  him,  and  went 
backward  and  fell  to  the  ground  ;  the  spirits  of  dark- 
ness heard  him,  and  departed  from  men.  All  this 
exercise  of  power  elevated  the  character  of  the 
Gospel  dispensation,  because  it  displayed  his  rank 
and  glory  who  had  come  to  the  earth  solely  to  de- 


350  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  IX 

clare  it.  Jesus  appeared  simply  as  the  great  preacher 
of  Gospel  grace,  and  all  the  honour  which  apper- 
tained to  his  character  as  a  messenger,  was  reflected 
upon  the  message  with  which  he  was  charged. 
And  highly  glorious  aifpl  excellent  indeed  was  that 
dispensation  which  brought  the  Deity  to  earth,  as  a 
preacher  of  its  truth.  His  ministry  was  honoured 
by  the  annunciation  of  angels,  and  by  the  proclama- 
tion of  a  divinely  appointed  herald  ;  and  though  he 
was  despised  and  rejected  by  a  portion  of  men,  yet 
honour  was  paid  to  him  in  his  humiliation  by  heaven 
and  earth.  But  during  his  earthly  ministry  he  was 
comparatively  in  a  cloud.  His  real  glory  was 
eclipsed  by  the  burden  of  man's  afflictions,  tempta- 
tions and  sins ;  and  it  was  in  the  subsequent  minis- 
try of  his  apostles  that  his  divine  power  and  suf- 
ficiency were  really  displayed.  Then,  when  the 
Gospel  was  preached  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  heaven,  and  the  Lord  confirmed  his 
word  with  wonders  and  signs  following,  the  honour 
of  the  Son  of  Man  was  gloriously  exhibited.  The 
apostles  acted  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth ; 
and  this  name  was  everywhere  the  signal  of  divine 
and  unlimited  power.  The  miracles  which  Jesus 
wroHght  in  person  while  on  earth,  they  wrought  in 
his  name  after  his  ascension  to  glory.  And  in  addi- 
tion to  all  these  mighty  signs  and  wonders,  the 
conversion  of  myriads  of  immortal  souls  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God,  did  honour  to  that  dis- 
pensation of  the  Gospel  which  had  been  committed 
unto  them. 

How  beautiful,  then^  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitudes 
throughout  the  earth,  who  were  asking  the  way  to 
life,  were  the  feet  of  those  who  published  with  such 


LECT.  IX.]  IN    ITS    PUBLICATION.  351 

authority  and  effect,  glad  tidings  of  peace  and  salva- 
tion through  the  merits  of  a  crucified  Lamb !     And 
how  glorious  in  their  ministry,  was  that  Gospel  of 
the  blessed  God,  which  triumphed  over  error,  par- 
doned sin,  consoled  the  disconsolate,  and  gave  life 
from  the  dead,  in  the  name  of  our  great  God  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  to  every  believer  in  its  truth. 
But  while  through  all  these  periods  of  time,  the 
glory  of  the  Gospel  was  displayed  in  the  character 
and  rank  of  its  preachers,  can  we  adopt  the  same 
assertion  of  the  present  ministry  of  the  Gospel  ? 
Now,  the  excellency  of  this  divine  treasure  is  com- 
mitted to  fallible,  weak  and  sinful  men ;  they  have 
no  miraculous  powers  intrusted  to  them ;  they  have 
no  signs  and  wonders  to  follow  their  utterance  of 
the  name  of  Jesus ;  they  have  no  power  to  overrule 
or  punish  the  disobedience  of  those  who  obey  not 
the  Gospel ;  and,  generally  speaking,  they  have  no 
excellency  of  speech  or  of  wisdom  to  command  the 
attention  of  those  who  cannot  be  attracted  by  the 
truth.     Is  the  Gospel  still  glorious  in  the  character 
of  its  preachers  1     And  are  the  feet  of  those  who 
publish  it  still  beautiful  upon  the  mountains?     Yes, 
for  there  is  still  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  among 
men,  without  whose  influence,  signs  and  wonders 
would  be  powerless,  and  the  tongues  of  men  and 
angels  utterly  unprofitable.     He  follows  the  sinner 
with  a  boldness  which  is  always  undaunted,  and 
tells  him  hourly  to  his  face,  "  thou  art  the  man." 
He  carries  glad  tidings  with  a  forbearance  which 
will  not  be  wearied,  and  beseeches,  "  to-day,  after 
so  long  a  time,  if  ye  will  hear,  harden  not  your 
hearts."     He  grasps  the  conscience   with   a  hold 
which  cannot  be  shaken  off;  and  awakens  the  trans- 


352  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  IX. 

gressor  with  a  solemn  cry,  "  escape  for  your  life." 
He  binds  up  the  heart  which  he  has  broken,  with 
more  than  parental  tenderness,  while  he  leads  the 
soul  to  Jesus,  and  says,  "  believe,  and  he  will  give 
you  rest."  There  is  none  who  teacheth  like  him ; 
and  while  we  preach  the  Gospel  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  with  much  assurance,  its^  ministration  is 
glorious,  and  brings  honour  to  the  truiih  which  it  de- 
clares. This  divine  Spirit  will  be  the  great  preacher 
of  Christ  crucified  unto  the  end  of  the  Gospel  dis- 
pensation. His  power  is  unceasingly  displayed, — 
in  the  instant  conversion  of  many  who  come  under 
the  word,  cold  and  ignorant  and  careless  ;  in  the  ex- 
tensive revival  of  the  power  of  godliness,  in  the  com- 
munity which  has  settled  down  into  a  dark  and  life- 
less state ;  in  the  spreading  before  an  individual 
sinner  the  startling  view  of  his  own  iniquities,  and 
in  causing  great  searchings  of  heart  among  those 
who  have  held  the  truth  in  unrighteousness.  And 
while  the  ministry  of  tiie  Gospel  has  such  power, 
though  the  earthly  minister  be  weak  and  ignorant,  the 
Gospel  is  glorified  in  the  character  of  its  preachers. 

For  nearly  sixty  centuries  God  the  Father,  God 
the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  have  united  to 
publish  these  glad  tidings  of  peace,  of  good,  and  of 
salvation.  In  this  divine  ministry,  great  honour  has 
been  brought  to  the  Gospel  dispensation,  and  it  has 
been  made  glorious  in  the  method  of  its  publication. 

II.  The  glory  of  the  Gospel  in  the  method  of  its 
publication  is  exhibited  in  the  Providence  ichich  has 
ahcays  attended  it.  It  is  perfectly  evident  from  Scrip- 
ture, that  the  existence  of  the  human  race,  after  their 
apostacy  from  God,  was  permitted  only  as  a  display 
of  God's  grace  in  their  redemption ;  and  the  whole 


LECT.  IX.]  IN    Its   l»tJBLICAtI0N4  S63 

divine  government  of  man  has  been  a  comment  upon 
that  promise,  which  was  given  to  Adam,  of  a  coming 
Saviour.  Four  thousand  years  were  employed  in 
preparing  for  this  manifestation  of  God  in  the  flesh. 
During  this  period  the  Divine  Providence  was  un- 
ceasingly displayed  in  watching  over  the  great  pur- 
pose of  redemption,  and  making  provision  for  the 
fulness  of  time.  The  division  of  nations  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  final  triumph  of  truth  and  grace ;  the 
call  of  Abraham  to  be  the  father  and  spiritual  repre- 
sentative of  all  believers,  the  depositary  of  that  ever- 
lasting covenant  which  was  in  all  things  well  or*^ 
dered  and  sure,  and  the  head  of  the  earthly  line  from 
which  the  desire  of  all  nations  should  be  born  ;  the 
separation  of  the  Israelites,  to  keep  those  precious 
truths  and  promises  which  constituted  so  much  the 
treasure  of  the  world ;  the  various  dispensations  and 
revelations  which  were  made  to  them,  all  pointing 
to  more  excellent  things  to  come ;  the  diversified 
events  of  their  history,  and  their  relations  to  other 
nations  of  the  earth ;  all  these  were  arrangements 
of  Divine  Providence,  to  prepare  the  way  ^  of  the 
Lord  and  a  highway  for  our  God. 

When  the  fulness  of  the  appointed  time  was  come^ 
the  same  Providence  was  displayed,  in  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Jews,  that  there 
might  be  no  rival  to  that  kingdom  not  of  this  world, 
which  the  Lord  God  designed  to  set  up  among  them ; 
in  the  universal  empire  which  Rome  had  been  per- 
mitted to  establish  through  the  known  world,  giving 
such  free  course  to  the  divine  word,  and  such  op- 
portunities and  protection  to  the  preachers  of  the 
Gospel,  as  no  age  before  or  after  could  have  aflford- 
ed;    in  the  establishment  of  a  general  language 


854  GLORY  OF  THE  GOSPEL  [lECT.  IX. 

through  all  civilized  nations,  and  that  the  language 
m  which  the  New  Testament  was  written  ;  in  the 
great  literary  cultivation  and  wisdom  of  that  period, 
affording  the  most  certain  and  scrutinizing  examina- 
tion of  the  claims  of  the  new  religion,  which  made 
such  large  demands  upon  men ;  all  these  also  are 
remarkable  arrangements  of  that  Providence  which 
was  ordering  events  to  co-operate  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  among 
men. 

In  the  whole  period  of  time  which  has  since 
elapsed,  all  human  changes  have  been  made  to  work 
together  to  promote  the  same  intended  results.  The 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  its  progress,  its  establishment,  its 
triumph  in  the  world,  have  formed  the  all-sufficient 
reason  for  the  most  wonderful  alternations  among 
the  children  of  men.  In  the  embracing  and  cultiva- 
tion of  tliis  Gospel,  savage  nations  have  been  raised 
to  civilization,  prosperity,  and  temporal  happiness 
and  power.  In  the  neglect  and  contempt  of  it,  civi- 
lized nations  have  been  reduced  to  degradation,  bar- 
barism, and  ignorance.  All  desirable  earthly  bless- 
ings have  been  made  to  follow  in  the  train  of  the 
Redeemer's  Gospel ;  and  While  no  nation  has  been 
exalted  without  it,  the  sin  of  its  rejection  has  been 
a  permanent  reproach  to  every  people  who  have 
been  guilty  of  it. 

The  great  commotions  of  the  world,  the  wars  and 
tumults  which  have  agitated  the  sons  of  men,  have 
all  been  made  to  prepare  the  way  for  Jesus,  as  the 
fire,  and  the  wind,  and  the  earthquake  in  Horeb,  in- 
.  troduced  to  Elijah  the  still,  small  voice  of  divine 
commands.  The  present  overturnings  of  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  though  so  dark  and  trying,  in 


LEOT.  IX.]  IN    ITS    PUBLICATION.  '355 

their  prospect  and  their  immediate  results,  are  over- 
ruled to  introduce  and  establish  the  kingdom  of  the 
Saviour.  Men  fill  the  atmosphere  with  noise  and 
confusion  to  gratify  their  own  ambition.  God  rides 
upon  the  storm,  and  makes  the  clouds  the  dust  of 
his  feet^  to  bring  to  pass  his  great  designs.  They 
think  to  destroy  nations  not  a  few  ;  he  purposes  to 
establish  a  dominion  under  another  King,  one  Jesus, 
from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth. 

This  same  Providence  is  to  carry  on  the  Gospel 
to  a  final  triumph.  The  north  and  the  south  are  to 
give  up  the  victims  of  ignorance  and  idolatry,  that 
they  may  be  made  the  children  of  God.  Even  now 
commerce  has  for  this  purpose  brought  together  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  and  the  peaceful  galley  of  the 
merchant  has  carried  the  ministers  and  the  books  of 
truth  to  most  of  the  remotest  nations  of  men.  This 
continued  providence  of  God,  watching  over  the  Gos- 
pel, preparing  the  way  for  its  propagation,  establish- 
ing it  upon  the  ruins  of  liuman  ignorance  and  vice, 
has  bestowed  unceasing  honour  upon  it  as  a  dispen- 
sation from  God  to  man.  That  God,  by  whom,  and 
for  whom  all  things  were  made,  is  exhibited  a  glori- 
ous God,  and  that  Gospel  for  which  the  earth  has 
been  preserved  and  governed,  and  the  promotion  of 
which  among  men  has  been  the  object  of  a  sleepless 
Providence,  is  for  this  reason  a  glorious  Gospel,  and 
is  honoured  and  made  beautiful  in  the  method  of  its 
publication. 

III.  The  glory  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  method  of  its 
publication,  has  been  displayed  in  its  constant  tri- 
umph over  every  species  of  opposition. 

In  every  age  Satan  has  sought  to  destroy  it  among 


356  GLORY  OF  THE  GOSPEL         [lECT.  IX. 

men,  and  to  defeat  the  divine  purpose  to  redeem  and 
to  bless  them.  His  triumph  over  our  first  parents 
led  to  the  promulgation  of  this  glorious  scheme  of 
grace ;  and  from  that  period  his  purpose  has  been  to 
pervert  its  operation,  and  to  destroy  its  saving  effi- 
cacy. He  buried  the  nations  in  ignorance  and  vice 
in  the  antediluvian  world,  until  the  Creator  was 
provoked  to  cleanse  it  with  an  universal  deluge. 
He  involved  the  Israelites  in  the  deepest  and  most 
degrading  idolatry,  until  sometimes,  as  in  the  reign 
of  Josiah,  the  divine  law  had  become  quite  forgotten. 
He  led  them  to  a  repeated  forsaking  of  God,  and 
despising  of  his  ordinances,  that  he  might  annihilate 
the  truth  which  had  been  intrusted  to  their  keeping. 
But  notwithstanding  all  his  power,  the  purpose  of 
God  to  accomplish  man's  redemption  kept  on  a 
steady  and  undeviating  course;  all  things  w^ere 
made  ready  for  its  development  in  the  appointed 
time ;  and  though  the  heathen  raged,  and  the  people 
imagined  a  vain  thing,  God  did  set  his  King  upon 
his  holy  hill  of  Zion. 

When  the  Saviour  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  he 
attempted  to  destroy  him.  He  excited  the  jealousy 
of  Herod  to  cut  him  off  in  his  infancy.  He  at- 
tempted to  persuade  him  to  his  own  destruction. 
He  arrayed  against  him  the  whole  power  of  Jewish 
and  Roman  governors,  so  that  in  the  expression  of 
the  apostles,  "against  the  holy  child  Jesus,  both 
Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate  and  the  rulers  of  Israel 
were  gathered  together."  He  finally  succeeded,  as 
he  supposed,  in  his  destruction,  by  nailing  him  to 
the  cross.  But  still  the  Gospel  triumphed  ;  and  the 
very  death  which  was  to  shew  the  weakness  and 
falsehood  of  the  professed  Messiah,  was  his  full  and 


LECT.    IX.]  IN    ITS    PUBLICATION.  357 

perfect  triumph  over  the  gates  of  hell,  and  his  open 
spoiling  of  the  principalities  and  powers  of  darkness. 
Foiled  and  defeated  in  this  attempt,  the  enemy  has 
pursued  the  Gospel  in  every  succeeding  age  like  a 
flood.  He  raised  against  it  the  arm  of  temporal 
power  and  wealth,  so  that  the  most  dreadful  and 
bitter  wasting  of  human  lives  was  exhibited  in  the 
persecution  of  the  apostles  and  all  its  succeeding 
preachers.  But  the  Gospel  triumphed  over  his 
power,  and  in  the  reign  of  Constantine  was  seated 
upon  the  very  throne  of  the  persecuting  empire. 
Millions  of  lives  have  been  sacrificed  by  the  enmity 
of  Satan  because  they  were  Christians,  and  yet  in- 
creasing millions  have  risen  up  to  supply  their  place. 
He  has  inspired  the  wisdom  and  genius  of  man 
to  write  down  the  religion  of  Jesus  in  the  books  of 
infidelity,  so  that  some  of  the  mightiest  efforts  of  the 
human  mind  which  the  world  has  ever  seen,  have 
been  displayed  in  hostility  to  the  Gospel.  Age  after 
age  has  furnished  the  same  display ;  and  yet  this 
despised  Gospel  has  triumplied  over  the  arguments 
and  writings  of  infidelity,  and  still  stands  the  monu- 
ment of  God's  Almighty  power,  while  the  names 
and  the  actual  existence  of  many  of  these  opposers, 
are  known  only  by  the  answers  which  Christian 
writers  have  made  to  them.  He  has  in  different 
ages  thrown  corruptions  in  practice  and  heresies  in 
doctrine  into  the  body  of  the  Church  ;  has  raised  up 
secret  enemies  in  the  very  camp,  until  the  word  of 
God  has  appeared  almost  buried  under  the  wicked- 
ness of  men.  But  the  Gospel  has  thrown  off  suc- 
cessively corruptions  and  heresies,  and  still  stands, 
after  all  these  attempts,  precisely  the  same  living  and 
life-giving  truth,  as  when  it  was  first  revealed.     He 


358  GLORY  OF  THE  GOSPEL         [lECT.  IX. 

has  sent  his  agents  and  ministers  to  assume  the 
Christian  garb,  to  array  themselves  among  the  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus,  and  thus  to  betray  the  cause  which 
they  professed  to  espouse.  But  though  the  tares 
have  grow^n  together  w^ith  the  wheat,  there  have 
been  continually  succeeding  harvests  in  which  they 
have  been  separated,  and  the  Gospel  is  still  offered 
in  its  simplicity  and  purity  to  man,  and  embraced 
in  its  true  character  by  thousands,  while  these  false 
pretenders  and  preachers  have  gone  to  their  own 
place.  No  species  of  opposition  which  could  have 
been  aroused  has  been  omitted.  Every  possible  in- 
strument has  been  called  in  requisition,  and  every 
instrument  in  its  highest  possible  power ;  and  yet 
over  all,  truth  has  prevailed.  The  Gospel  has  set 
its  foot  upon  the  necks  of  its  enemies  ;  and  still  tri- 
umphs, and  still  will  triumph,,  until  its  full  dominion 
has  been  attained.  Opposition  probably  w^as  never 
stronger  or  more  serious  than  in  the  present  day. 
The  truth  is  everywiiere  spoken  against.  The  doc- 
trines and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  are  reviled  by 
thousands  and  perverted  and  corrupted  by  thousands 
more.  Bitter  terms  of  reproach  are  appended  to  the 
names  of  those  who  maintain  its  truth,  and  the  most 
unfounded  calumnies  are  circulated  in  reference  to 
their  character  and  conduct ;  and  yet  the  Gospel  es- 
tablishes its  throne  in  the  very  midst  of/those  who 
hate  it,  and  converts  its  enemies  into  friends.  Such 
triumphs  reflect  high  honour  upon  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus,  and  shew  its  glory  in  the  method  of  its  pub- 
lication. Men  may  raise  insuperable  difficulties,  as 
they  suppose;  but  beautiful  in  their  triumphant 
march  over  all  these  mountains,  are  still  the  feet  of 


LECT.  IX.]  IN    ITS    PUBLICATION.  359 

those  who  publish  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  preach 
glad  tidings  of  good  things. 

From  this  view  of  the  glory  of  the  Gospel,  we 
may  learn, 

1.  That  whatever  men  may  think  of  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  word,  the  rejection  of  the  Gospel  is  re- 
ally a  rejection  of  God  himself  Whoever  may  pro- 
claim to  you  this  message  of  grace,  and  however 
weakly  and  infirmly  he  may  proclaim  it,  provided 
he  be  faithful,  he  speaks  the  word  of  the  Lord ;  and 
he  that  despiseth,  despiseth  not  man  but  God.  From 
God  himself  to  you  is  the  word  of  this  salvation 
sent;  and  let  all  take  heed  that  they  receive  not 
the  grace  of  God  in  vain.  In  his  name  we  demand 
the  submission  of  your  hearts  to  him.  We  offer  you 
the  fulness  of  mercy  for  perishing  sinners,  which  is 
laid  up  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  by  his  au- 
thority we  require  you  to  repent  and  believe  the 
Gospel.  We  must  leave  it  to  your  own  choice 
whether  you  will  accept  the  provisions  of  divine 
mercy  or  not.  You  may  reject  them  indeed,  but 
you  will  reject  them  to  your  eternal  ruin.  Brethren, 
Almighty  God  demands  his  own.  He  made  you  not 
to  be  destroyed  ;  he  has  bought  you  with  an  ines- 
timable price ;  he  commands  you  to  return  to  him 
and  live ;  and  you  will  answer  it  before  him  in  a 
solemn,  final  judgment,  how  you  have  received  and 
improved  the  precious  opportunity  of  salvation  which 
he  has  so  long  allowed  you. 

2.  The  way  in  which  you  should  receive  it,  is  not 
as  the  word  of  man,  but  as  it  is  in  truth,  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  which  worketh  effectually  in  you  that 
believe.  The  word  of  God  profits  you  not,  if  it  be 
not  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  hear  it.    Listen 


360  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL,    ETC.  [lECT.  IX. 

to  the  Gospel  as  a  personal  message  to  yourselves ; 
hear  it  describe  your  necessities,  and  offer  you  a  full 
and  perfect  remedy,  with  the  humble  acknowledg- 
ment of  your  want,  and  a  cordial  embracing  of  the 
mercy  proposed  ;  appropriate  with  thankfulness  the 
privileges  which  God  offers  here  to  sinners,  and  learn 
to  come  with  your  whole  heart,  to  the  fountain  of 
blessedness  and  mercy  which  he  has  laid  open. 
The  Lord  Jesus  invites  you  in  great  kindness  to  re- 
ceive his  love.  By  his  ministers  he  calls  you,  and 
by  his  Spirit  he  strives  with  you,  that  you  may  not 
be  permitted  to  destroy  yourselves.  Believe  in  him 
with  your  hearts,  and  it  shall  be  well  with  you ;  he 
will  pardon  your  unrighteousness,  and  your  iniqui- 
ties will  he  remember  no  more.  He  brings  you  this 
day  good  tidings ;  he  publishes  to  you  peace  and 
salvation.  O  let  your  thankful  hearts  rejoice  that 
there  is  a  Saviour  so  worthy  to  be  received,  ad- 
mired and  loved,  presented  to  your  embrace ;  and 
come  unto  him  and  he  shall  give  you  rest. 


LECTURE   X. 

THE  GLORY  OF  THE  GOSPEL   FROM  THE  SUBJECTS  WHICH 
IT  PROCLAIMS. 

How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good 
tidings,  that  pubUsheth  peace,  that  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good,  that  pub- 
lisheth  salvation,  that  saith  unto  Zion,  thy  God  reigneth. — Isaiah,  li.  7. 

Such  we  have  seen  is  the  divine  description  of  the 
ministry  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Whether  men 
justly  appreciate  their  office  or  not,  they  are  sent  as 
messengers  of  God's  chief  blessing  to  a  fallen  world. 
Coming  with  intelligence  of  pardon  from  on  high,  to 
the  penitent  and  contrite  their  approach  is  welcomed, 
their  feet  are  beautiful.  God  is  pleased  to  put  high 
honour  upon  their  office,  and  to  show  himself  per- 
sonally interested  in  the  acceptance  and  respect 
which  they  receive. 

But  why  are  they  thus  styled  beautiful  1  Not  for 
any  personal  merit  or  worth  in  themselves.  They 
are  infirm  and  imperfect.  Not  for  any  dignity  or 
power  which  they  possess,  or  which  they  can  exer- 
cise. They  are  like  other  men,  altogether  weak, 
sinful  and  unprofitable.  God  honours  them,  and 
they  are  welcomed  by  believing  man,  altogether  on 
account  of  the  message  which  they  are  commis- 
sioned to  proclaim.  This  message  contains  the  high- 
est possible  benefit  to  man,  and  reflects  unceasing 
glory  upon  God.     The  text  exhibits  this  message  at 


362  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  X. 

large,  and  introduces  to  your  notice  the  subject  of 
the  present  discourse.  The  glory  of  the  Gospel^  aris- 
ing from  the  intelligence  ichich  it  communicates  to 
man. 

1.  It  brings  "good  tidings."  This  expression  is 
a  general  designation  of  the  revelation  made  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  title  by  which  we 
know  this  glorious  system,  and  which  is  thus  called 
the  Gospel,  because  it  is  altogether  a  communica- 
tion of  good  tidings  to  man. 

The  good  tidings  of  the  Christian  system  of  truth 
involve  many  particulars,  adapted  to  all  human  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions.  It  appoints  everywhere 
to  them  that  mourn,  to  give  them  beauty  for  ashes, 
the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  the  garment  of  praise  for 
the  spirit  of  heaviness.  It  speaks  in  the  language 
of  consolation  to  all  who  suffer,  of  security  to  all 
who  are  in  doubt,  of  encouragement  to  all  who 
fear,  of  promise  to  all  who  seek  for  mercy.  There 
is  no  condition  of  man  under  the  Providence  of  the 
God  of  Truth,  for  which  the  Gospel  of  Christ  will 
not  bring  relief  and  comfort.  He  cannot  be  placed 
under  such  circumstances  as  shall  shut  him  out 
from  security  and  hope,  if  he  be  willing  to  accept 
the  offers  which  are  here  made.  Whenever  the 
sinner  is  destroyed,  he  has  destroyed  himself,  though 
God  has  offered  him  abundant  help. 

But  the  good  tidings  of  the  Gospel  may  all  be 
comprised  in  its  one  offer  to  man  of  universal  par- 
don for  sin,  and  perfect  righteousness  for  justification 
w^th  God.  It  exhibits  a  Saviour,  who  has  accom- 
plished in  his  own  person  a  full  salvation  for  the 
sinful  posterity  of  Adam,  and  the  riches  of  whose 
grace  are  truly  unsearchable ;  and  it  offers  simply 


LECT.  X.]  IN    ITS    SUBJECTS.  308 

through  him,  and  in  the  acceptance  of  him,  univer- 
sal forgiveness  and  life  to  those  for  whom  he  died. 
I  say  universal  forgiveness,  for  not  a  single  sinner  is 
personally  excepted  from  the  offer  which  it  makes. 
Whosoever  will,  may  come  and  drink  freely  of  the 
water  of  life.  Jesus  has  offered  himself  once  for 
all.  And  there  is  not  a  man  living  who  can  say 
with  truth,  ''  for  me  there  is  no  redemption,  God  has 
shut  me  out  of  life."  No,  brethren,  we  do  injustice, 
great  injustice  to  the  free  and  unbounded  grace  of 
God,  if  we  suppose  that  it  is  not  honestly  proposed 
to  all,  and  proposed  with  a  sincere  desire  on  the  part 
of  its  great  Author  that  all  should  partake  of  it  and 
live.  Whatever  theoretical  difficulties  may  be  imag- 
ined, in  reconciling  God's  purposes  of  love  defeated, 
with  his  unlimited  and  resistless  power  to  do  his 
will,  we  cannot  lay  the  blame  of  man's  destruction 
upon  him.  Nor  in  searching  through  the  whole 
catalogue  of  offenders  against  him,  can  we  find  one 
to  whom  we  are  authorized  to  say,  that  no  atone- 
ment has  been  made  for  him,  and  no  pardon  is  of- 
fered upon  his  return  to  God. 

This  offer  of  forgiveness  is  universal  in  regard  to 
the  transgressions  of  each  individual.  No  sinner 
can  be  too  guilty  to  be  pardoned.  No  man  can  have 
fallen  to  a  depth  which  is  beyond  the  reach  of  Al- 
mighty grace.  Is  he  the  chief  of  sinners  7  Has  no 
one  ever  passed  beyond  the  limits  of  his  transgres- 
sion 1  Then  is  the  faithful  saying  true  for  him,  that 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  for  his  salvation, 
and  is  able  to  set  him  forth  as  a  pattern  of  divine 
long  suffering.  All  the  offences  of  previous  life  are 
forever  pardoned,  when  a  sinner  embraces  the  pro- 
visions of  grace  in  Christ  Jesus.     One  act  of  divine 


364  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.    X. 

mercy  restores  him  to  the  favour  of  his  God,  and  re- 
moves forever  all  charge  of  guilt  against  his  soul. 
It  is  true,  that  the  sinner's  forgiveness  is  dependent 
upon  his  return  to  God.  If  he  continue  in  a  perse- 
vering rejection  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  determine 
to  sin  because  grace  abounds,  he  commits  indeed  a 
sin  for  which  there  is  no  forgiveness,  either  in  this 
world,  or  in  the  world  to  come.  None  in  this  world, 
because  he  thus  casts  finally  away  the  only  possible 
means  of  pardon.  None  in  the  world  to  come,  be- 
cause all  exercise  of  pardon  is  confined  to  the  pres- 
ent life.  This  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  cannot  be 
forgiven,  not  because  its  guilt  is  too  great,  but  be- 
cause it  is  final  impenitence  ;  and  no  impenitent  sin- 
ner can  be  pardoned.  But  for  all  classes  and  de- 
grees of  guilt,  if  the  sinner  truly  repent  and  submit 
himself  to  God,  there  is  forgiveness  offered  in  the 
Gospel.  And  thus  the  Gospel  is  a  message  of  good 
tidings  to  man,  bringing  him  back  to  God  and  re- 
storing him  again  to  the  divine  favour  and  love. 

2.  It ''  publisheth  peace."  The  transgressions  of 
men  have  excited  the  just  anger  of  God  against 
them,  have  exposed  them  to  necessary  punishment, 
and  made  it  the  inflexible  rule  of  his  government, 
that  there  should  be  no  peace  to  the  wicked.  This 
is  the  relation  in  which  by  nature  you  stand  to  God ; 
your  souls  are  forfeited  to  his  divine  justice.  Should 
he  carry  forward  his  anger  against  sin  to  final  exe- 
cution, and  cast  you  all  into  everlasting  ruin,  no  one 
of  you  could  have  the  right  to  complain.  Your 
own  consciences  would  unite  with  his  holy  determi- 
nations, and  proclaim  that  God  was  just  though  he 
thus  took  vengeance.  You  could  make  no  oflfering 
to  him  which  should  purchase  peace,  or  deserve  the 


LECT.  X.]  IN    ITS    SUBJECTS.  365 

remission  of  the  punishment  denounced  against  sin. 
Under  such  circumstances  the  worth  and  glory  of 
the  Gospel  are  displayed.  God  has  accomplished 
and  proposes  reconciliation,  and  his  Gospel  declares 
it  to  you  in  his  name.  It  is  an  offer  of  peace  alto- 
gether worthy  of  God  ;  it  compromises  not  the  jus- 
tice or  integrity  of  his  character,  but  confirms  and 
glorifies  his  whole  government  of  man. 

Peace  between  yourselves  and  your  Creator  is 
thus  proclaimed.  You  are  allowed  to  come  before 
him  with  your  prayers  and  offerings  without  fear. 
He  looks  upon  you  in  the  righteousness  of  his  Son 
with  acceptance  and  favour.  He  invites  you  to  be- 
come united  to  him  in  the  spirit  of  new  and  holy 
obedience,  and  to  forget  that  there  has  been  any  sep- 
aration between  you,  in  your  experience  of  the  fu- 
ture manifestations  of  his  love.  The  Gospel  ex- 
hibits the  character  of  God  to  you  under  the  most 
attractive  aspect.  It  shews  you  that  he  is  desirous 
to  pardon  and  save  you  ;  and  invites  you  to  commit 
all  your  cares  and  ways  to  him,  in  the  assurance 
that  he  will  be  a  friend  and  beloved  to  you  forever. 
Besides  this  relative  peace  between  your  souls  and 
God,  the  Gospel  publishes  peace  in  the  experience 
of  your  own  hearts.  When  you  receive  by  faith 
the  Saviour  whom  it  offers,  and  he  is  allowed  to 
dwell  in  your  hearts  as  your  hope  of  glory,  there  is 
then  bestowed  upon  you  the  peace  which  passeth 
understanding.  Your  troubled  and  anxious  minds 
have  rest.  Tranquillity  and  assurance  forever  estab- 
lish their  dominion  in  your  souls.  The  accusations 
of  giiilt  are  hushed  by  divine  testimonials  of  par- 
doning love.  Your  hope  is  fixed  calmly  and  surely 
upon  the  promises  of  God  ;  and  resting  thus  in  love 


366  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  X. 

for  him,  and  in  his  love  for  you,  you  are  filled  with 
peace  in  believing  through  the  power  of  his  Spirit. 
Peace  is  thus  thrown  over  all  the  changes  and  pros- 
pects of  mortal  life.  All  things  work  together  for 
good  to  those  who  love  God  ;  and  he  keeps  them  in 
perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  him.  There 
is  real  worth,  beloved  brethren,  in  this  Gospel  offer 
of  peace  to  the  sinner's  soul,  and  you  will  exhibit 
true  wisdom  in  embracing  it  for  your  own  comfort 
in  the  present  w^oi'ld,  and  your  eternal  joy  in  a  world 
to  come.  God  makes  it  his  glory  to  pass  by  trans- 
gressions, and  gives  glory  to  his  Gospel,  in  consti- 
tuting it  the  instrument  of  proclaiming  his  riches  of 
love,  to  every  sinner  truly  repenting  and  believing 
in  his  Son. 

3.  The  Gospel  brings  "  good  tidings  of  good."  It 
not  only  restores  the  sinner  by  the  offer  of  free 
forgiveness  to  the  condition  of  an  innocent  man,  re- 
moving all  penalty,  and  rescuing  him  from  condem- 
nation, but  it  adds  also  positive  and  infinitely  valua- 
ble benefits.  It  offers  him  in  the  righteousness  of 
God  his  Saviour  everlasting  life  and  glory.  It  bids 
him  lift  up  his  eyes  and  his  hopes,  for  God  hath  pro- 
vided for  him  such  good  things  as  pass  man's  under- 
standing. The  present  good  which  results  from  a 
cordial  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  is  important,  but  it 
is  partial.  The  following  of  Christ  may  involve, 
with  all  the  peace  and  comfort  which  it  promises, 
the  endurance  of  much  suffering  and  trial.  The 
Christian  may  pass  through  many  and  great  tribu- 
lations in  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  But 
the  future  good  which  is  set  before  him  is  all-suf- 
ficient and  entire,  and  the  final  result  of  his  obe- 
dience will  make  abundant  reparation  for  any  con- 


LECT.  X.]  IN    ITS    SUBJECTS.  367 

flicts  by  which  he  must  be  here  tried.  But  what  is 
this  future  good  ?  What  offers  are  made  to  be  ful- 
filled in  a  world  to  come  ?  Continuing  life  to  beings 
who  deserve  to  die.  Unceasing  enjoyment  for  those 
who  merit  only  sufferings  and  woes.  Perfect  accep- 
tance with  God,  for  rebels  against  him,  with  wiiom 
he  was  justly  angry  every  day.  Everlasting  honour 
and  glory  for  those  who  have  been  degraded  and 
destroyed  by  sin.  The  fellowship  of  Jesus  and  his 
saints,  the  vsociety  of  all  who  are  holy  and  perfect, 
the  approbation  of  the  Ruler  and  Judge  of  all,  for 
beings  who  were  cast  out  in  their  sins  ready  to  per- 
ish. Such  is  the  good  which  the  Gospel  offers.  It 
is  a  spiritual  and  permanent  good,  which,  like  its 
Author,  has  no  variableness  nor  shadow  of  changing. 
Such  honour,  such  recompense  have  all  his  saints. 

This  everlasting  provision  of  good  answers  all  the 
reproaches  of  the  world,  while  it  shews  that  the 
Christian,  in  counting  all  thing  as  loss  for  Christ, 
acts  with  wisdom  and  prudence ;  that  he  lays  up 
his  treasure  securely  where  moth  and  rust  do  not 
corrupt,  nor  thieves  break  through  to  steal ;  and 
builds  his  house  upon  a  rock  which  shall  stand  the 
assault  of  every  lempest,  and  abide  firm  for  ever- 
more. It  answers  all  the  temptations  of  the  world, 
while  it  presents  more  than  a  counterbalance  for 
every  sinful  joy,  and  excites  a  faith  and  hope  which 
shall  overcome  every  allurement  to  transgression. 
It  applies  itself  to  all  the  changing  circumstances  of 
life,  bringing  encouragement  and  treasure  from  God, 
wherever  its  possessor  may  be  placed.  It  is  so 
satisfying,  that  its  messenger  is  always  welcome 
to  those  who  understand  its  worth.  To  the  poor, 
the  afflicted,  the  sick,  the  dying,  the  glorious  Gos- 


368  GLORY    OF   THE    GOSPEL  [leCT.  X. 

pel  brings  always  good  tidings  of  good.  It  takes 
man  by  the  hand  when  all  others  forsake  him.  It 
can  speak  with  power  w4ien  all  others  are  silent. 
And  shews  itself  thus  useful  and  desirable,  however 
low  and  desperate  may  be  the  condition  of  the  indi- 
vidual to  whom  its  gracious  offers  come. 

4.  The  Gospel  ''  publishes  salvation."  It  pro- 
claims to  every  believer  final  security  from  the  pun- 
ishment of  sin,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan.  It 
encourages  him  with  the  assurance  of  victory,  even 
while  he  is  in  the  midst  of  his  warfare.  It  bids  him 
remember  the  Almighty  power  which  is  engaged 
upon  his  side,  and  under  whatever  circumstances 
of  danger,  to  be  not  faithless  but  believing.  The 
salvation  which  the  Gospel  offers  is  a  salvation  al- 
ready finished  and  completed.  Man  is  invited  to 
partake  of  that  mercy  which  God  has  freely  pro- 
vided for  him  ;  and  the  great  office  of  the  Gospel  is 
to  publish  to  man  this  glorious  salvation,  and  to  in- 
vite him  to  an  enjoyment  of  the  bounties  which 
have  been  thus  prepared.  This  salvation  it  pro- 
claims in  exhibiting  an  all-sufficient  sacrifice  for  sin 
and  an  all-glorious  righteousness  as  a  title  to  eternal 
life,  offered  by  God's  dear  Son.  It  shews  that  the 
burden  of  human  guilt  was  actually  laid  upon  him, 
and  that  his  death  upon  the  cross  was  borne  as  a 
required  punishment  in  the  sinner's  stead. 

In  such  an  exhibition  of  the  death  of  Christ,  it 
displays  a  full  and  final  atonement  made  to  God  for 
human  transgressions,  and  publishes  salvation  in 
the  assurance  that  every  barrier  which  unexpiated 
guilt  interposed  to  the  acceptance  of  man  has  been 
thus  removed.  It  proclaims  this  salvation  in  dis- 
playing the  resurrection  from  the  dead  and  the  sub- 


LECT.  X.]  IN    ITS    SUBJECTS.  369 

sequent  exaltation  of  the  glorious  Redeemer  who 
had  humbled  himself  even  to  this  death  upon  the 
cross  for  man,  and  thus  shews  that  Almighty  power 
is  enlisted  in  behalf  of  all  who  come  to  him,  and  that 
he  is  able  to  save  them  unto  the  uttermost,  seeing 
he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them.  While 
the  Gospel  thus  proclaims  the  united  exercise  of 
the  power  of  God,  and  the  sufferings  of  man,  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord  our  righteousness, 
it  publishes  salvation  in  a  method  which  removes 
every  difficulty,  and  commends  itself  to  the  enlight- 
ened judgment  of  man  as  perfectly  adequate  to  his 
wants,  and  precisely  vsuited  to  his  condition  as  a 
guilty  and  helpless  being. 

But  though  it  thus  publishes  to  man  a  complete 
salvation,  it  does  not  leave  him  to  obtain  for  him- 
self, and  by  his  own  power,  a  personal  interest  in 
this  salvation.  It  comes  to  him  attended  by  the 
same  Spirit  who  has  proclaimed  its  intelligence  to 
the  world,  as  a  personal  gift  to  his  soul,  to  enable 
him  to  see  his  dangers,  and  to  take  advantage  of  the 
mercies  which  are  offered  to  his  acceptance.  It 
brings  this  Holy  Spirit  to  dwell  within  his  heart 
forever  as  a  comforter  and  guide,  to  encourage  and 
to  lead  him  in  the  path  to  life  eternal.  By  the  min- 
istration of  the  Spirit,  it  applies  to  him  the  salvation 
which  it  publishes  abroad,  and  thus  completes  the 
gracious  design  of  God  of  bringing  sinners  whom  he 
hath  chosen  for  himself,  from  the  power  of  Satan,  to 
glory  everlasting. 

It  displays  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  united  in  the  w^ork  of  man's  redemption; 
shews  the  office  which  each  person  of  the  Deity  ex- 
ercises to  attain  this  end;   and  having  proclaimed 

16 


370  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.  X. 

the  whole  scheme  of  grace,  it  publishes  as  the  re- 
sult, a  full  and  eternal  salvation  to  all  who  believe 
the  intelligence  which  it  communicates. 

5.  The  Gospel  "  saith  unto  Zion,"  to  the  people 
of  God,  "  thy  God  reigneth."  This  personal  desig- 
nation of  God  as  connected  with  his  people,  shews 
us  that  Immanuel,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  is  es- 
pecially referred  to.  Of  him,  the  righteous  are  by 
the  same  prophet  represented  as  saying,  "  Lo,  this 
is  our  God,  w^e  have  waited  for  him,  and  he  will 
save  us."  The  God  of  Zion  is  an  incarnate  God, 
our  "  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  The 
Gospel  declares  his  reign,  his  everlasting  dominion 
as  God  over  all  blessed  forever.  It  proclaims  his 
exaltation  as  head  over  all  things  for  the  church,  as 
Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings,  making  his 
enemies  his  footstool.  It  declares  this  reign  of 
Christ  as  joyful  intelligence  to  his  people,  assuring 
them  that  their  cause  is  safe  under  his  extensive 
and  resistless  dominion.  He  reigns  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  present  world  ordering  all  things  accord- 
ing to  the  counsels  of  his  own  will,  and  constrain- 
ing all  beings  and  all  events,  to  promote  his  glory 
and  the  good  of  his  people.  In  this  assurance  Zion 
rejoices,  in  the  prospect  of  a  final  victory  for  his 
truth,  and  fears  not  but  his  cause  is  safe,  whatever 
may  be  the  assaults  of  the  ungodly.  However  men 
may  fill  the  earth  with  confusion  and  sin,  he  rides 
upon  the  whirlwind  and  the  storm,  and  makes  the 
clouds  the  dust  of  his  feet.  He  brings  light  out  of 
darkness,  and  makes  crooked  things  straight.  And 
he  will  accomplish  his  purpose  of  the  universal 
dominion  of  righteousness  and  peace  among  men, 
through  whatever  opposition  and  conflict  he  must 


LECT.   X.]  IN    ITS    SUBJECTS.  371 

pass  to  gain  the  end.  He  reigns  in  the  heart  of 
every  redeemed  sinner,  and  will  keep  each  one, 
therefore,  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  eternal  glory.  In 
this  intelligence,  too,  his  people  rejoice.  They  have 
put  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  stand  com- 
plete in  him.  Whatever  may  be  the  temptations 
of  sin,  and  the  difficulties  of  obedience,  while  he 
reigns  in  their  hearts,  they  shall  be  made  more  than 
conquerors  through  his  divine  power.  The  world 
shall  be  overcome,  Satan  shall  be  bruised  under 
their  feet,  self  shall  be  crucified  and  destroyed,  and 
grace  shall  triumph  finally  and  eternally,  because 
Christ  rules  in  those  whom  he  has  redeemed.  He 
reigns  amidst  the  hosts  of  heaven,  and  Zion  rejoices 
in  the  prospect  of  reward  which  his  dominion  there 
insures.  His  presence  constitutes  the  happiness  and 
glory  of  his  people.  They  look  forward  with  delight 
to  another  world  as  an  everlasting  home,  because  he 
is  there.  The  single  promise  of  recompense  which 
the  Gospel  makes,  is  an  enjoyment  of  his  favour 
and  a  dwelling  together  with  him.  In  the  hope  of 
this  the  believer's  heart  rejoices  with  joy  unspeaka- 
ble and  full  of  glory;  and  having  counted  all  things 
as  loss  for  Christ's  sake,  he  looks  forward  with  tri- 
umph to  the  day  when  he  shall  be  like  him  and  see 
him  as  he  is.  Jesus  reigns  in  heaven,  and,  there- 
fore, for  those  who  love  him,  heaven  must  contain  a 
desirable  and  ample  reward.  He  will  reign  in  vis- 
ible glory  among  his  saints  upon  the  earth,  when  he 
shall  return,  according  to  his  promise  to  them,  with- 
out sin  unto  salvation.  He  has  now,  as  regards  his 
visible  presence,  gone  to  receive  for  himself  a  king- 
dom and  to  return.  When  the  appointed  hour  ar- 
rives, the  Son  of  Man  shall  appear  in  his  glory,  and 


372  GLORY    OF    THE    GOSPEL  [lECT.   X. 

all  his  holy  angels  with  him.  In  this  reign,  Israel 
converted  unto  him  by  looking  upon  him  whom 
they  have  pierced,  shall  rejoice.  The  fulness  of  the 
Gentiles  shall  be  brought  under  his  dominion,  like 
new  life  to  a  world  that  has  been  long  dead.  The 
wickedness  of  the  ungodly  shall  have  come  to  an 
end,  and  he  shall  establish  the  just.  To  this  blessed 
kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God,  multiplied  prophecies 
of  the  Scripture  bid  us  to  look  forward  continually, 
and  it  is  our  blessed  privilege  to  live  in  unceasing 
expectation  of  the  happy  day,  when  angel  voices 
shall  thus  announce  unto  his  waiting  Zion,  *'  Thy 
Grod  reigneth." 

Such  is  the  glorious  intelligence  wliich  the  Gos- 
pel brings  you  ;  sucli  are  the  communications  which 
it  makes  to  a  world  of  sinners.  It  brings  good  ti- 
dings, it  publishes  peace,  it  brings  good  tidings  of 
good,  it  publishes  salvation,  it  declares  to  Zion,  thy 
God  reigneth.  These  gracious  communications 
throw  a  glorious  light  over  the  whole  message,  and 
constitute  it,  by  their  excellency,  the  glorious  Gos- 
pel of  the  blessed  God. 

How  important  is  the  obligation  which  arises  from 
such  intelligence  to  constrain  sinful  men  to  accept 
with  thankfulness  these  heavenly  offers !  The  im- 
mediate duty  required  of  you  all  is  the  reconcilia- 
tion to  God  which  the  Gospel  proposes,  and  for 
which  it  has  made  provision.  All  things  are  ready 
for  the  return  of  sinners  unto  Christ,  and  I  would 
beseech  you,  brethren,  to  welcome  the  ministers  of 
reconciliation,  to  receive  the  pardon  which  is  offered, 
;\nd  to  place  yourselves  under  the  dominion  of  this 
glorious  and  merciful  King.  Kiss  the  Son  in  token 
of  your  cheerful  submission  to  him,  and  let  not  his 


LEOT.  X.]  IN    ITS    SUBJECTS.  373 

wrath  be  kindled  against  you,  even  but  a  little,  lest 
you  perish  from  the  right  way,  and  lose  forever  the 
hopes  which  are  offered  you  through  His  grace. 

How  important  also  is  the  obligation  upon  Chris- 
tians to  press  upon  all  others  the  acceptance  of 
these  messages  of  divine  love  !  To  you  who  have 
believed,  the  Lord  has  committed  the  treasure  of  his 
grace,  that  you  may  offer  it  to  others.  In  your  con- 
versation and  your  conduct,  and  in  direct  efforts  to 
lead  sinners  unto  Christ,  much  influence  is  to  be  ex- 
erted to  publish  this  salvation,  and  to  spread  abroad 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  The  worth  of  this  glo- 
rious intelligence  marks  the  amount  of  your  respon- 
sibility ;  and  while  it  teaches  you  what  Christ  has 
done  and  suffered  to  open  the  way  of  salvation,  it 
impresses  upon  you  how  much  you  should  be  will- 
ing to  do  and  suffer,  to  make  this  way  plain  and 
profitable  to  others.  Let  no  effort  be  spared  by 
you  which  he  has  appointed  and  which  can  be  made 
effectual  to  bring  men  from  the  darkness  of  their 
sins,  to  the  light  of  the  glory  of  God  which  is  seen 
in  Jesus  Christ. 


LECTURE    XI. 

THE  GOSPEL  MAGNIFYING  THE  LAW. 

The  Lord  is  well  pleased  for  his  righteousness  sake :  he  will  magnify  the 
aw  and  make  it  honourable, — Isaiah,  xlii.  21 . 

We  have  considered  the  different  aspects  and 
operations  of  the  Law  and  the  Gospel,  through  a 
long  series  of  remarks ; — and  we  may  now  profit- 
ably reflect  upon  the  actual  connection  between 
these  two  great  departments  of  divine  truth,  and 
their  mutual  influence  upon  each  other.  Faithful- 
ness and  immutability  are  attributes  inseparable 
from  the  divine  character.  With  God  there  is  no 
variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning.  He  illus- 
trates this  entire  unchangeableness  of  his  own  char- 
acter, by  contrasting  with  it,  the  passing  nature,  and 
temporary  existence,  of  the  most  magnificent  of  his 
visible  works.  The  earth  with  all  its  apparent  sta- 
bility, shall  perish,  and  the  heavens  with  all  their 
uncounted,  and  apparently  unchangeable  glories, 
shall  wax  old,  and  like  a  garment  or  a  curtain  shall 
be  folded  up,  and  changed.  But  God,  who  is  the 
Creator  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  remaineth 
the  same  forever,  and  his  years  have  no  end.  This 
immutability  of  his  nature  and  purposes,  constitutes 
the  foundation  of  all  the  hope  of  his  creatures  in 
him, — and  the  reason  of  his  forbearance  towards 
them.     "  I  am  Jehovah,  I  change  not.     Therefore 


LECT.    XI.]       THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.  375 

ye  sons  of  Jacob  are  not  consumed."  "  I  will  not 
execute  the  fierceness  of  mine  anger,  I  will  not  re- 
turn to  destroy  Ephraim,  for  I  am  God,  and  not 
man."  The  same  unchangeable  character  is  de- 
clared of  him,  when  he  is  revealed,  as  "  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh."  "  Unto  the  Son  he  saith.  Thy 
throne  O  God  is  forever  and  ever,  a  sceptre  of  right- 
eousness is  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom."  "  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever." 
The  Saviour  asserts  also  this  entire  immutability  in 
his  own  word ;  "  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away ; 
but  my  word  shall  not  pass  away."  This  immuta- 
bility of  God  is  exhibited  in  all  the  divine  revela- 
tions, and  connected  with  all  the  divine  purposes 
and  plans.  He  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting, 
the  same  wise  and  holy  Being.  He  changes  not  the 
purposes  which  he  forms  ;  nor  is  he  frustrated  in 
the  accomplishment  of  his  designs.  He  has  made 
different  revelations  of  his  will  and  his  truth  to  man; 
but  they  are  all  parts  of  his  one  mind,  which  none 
can  turn,  and  are  all  known  unto  him  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world.  These  revelations  have  placed 
men,  under  different  dispensations  of  light,  and  in 
different  circumstances  of  responsibility.  But  they 
are  not  contrary  the  one  to  the  other  ;  nor  is  the  un- 
changeableness  of  God  affected,  by  their  apparent 
differences  of  communication.  Those  differences 
are  only  apparent.  The  perfect  unity  of  the  truth 
of  God  becomes  manifest  to  those  who  understand 
and  love  his  word.  The  law  is  not  against  the 
promises  of  God.  Nor  do  we  make  void  the  law 
through  faith.  They  are  designed  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  confirm  and  establish  each  other.  The  grace 
and  truth  which  comes  by  Jesus  Christ,  fulfils  and 


376  THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.       [lECT.  XL 

honours  the  law  which  was  given  by  Moses.  The 
consideration  of  this  fact,  is  now  before  us. 

Our  text  declares  that  God  was  perfectly  satisfied 
with  that  everlasting  righteousness,  which  the  divine 
Saviour  accomplished  and  brought  in  for  man,  un- 
der the  glorious  revelation  of  the  Gospel.  The 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  perfectly 
united  in  the  provision,  and  in  the  acceptance,  of 
this  glorious  work  of  merit  as  perfected  and  offered 
by  the  Great  Redeemer  of  man.  And  in  the  ac- 
ceptance of  this  perfect  righteousness  for  man,  it  is 
declared,  the  law  also  to  which  it  was  offered,  was 
magnified  and  made  honourable.  The  subject  which 
the  text  leads  us  to  consider,  is  the  honour  lohich  the 
Grace  of  the  Gospel  reflects  upon  the  holiness  and  au- 
thority of  the  laid. 

I.  In  considering  this  subject,  we  may  first  recall 
some  of  the  clear  and  important  views  which  we 
have  taken  of  the  several  characteristics  and  oper- 
ations of  these  two  dispensations. 

1.  The  law  of  God  is  jimply  the  revealed  will  of 
the  Creator.  It  was  first  proclaimed,  when  the  first 
intelligent  creature  was  formed.  It  required  in 
every  such  being  who  should  be  called  into  exist- 
ence, unqualified  and  instant  submission  to  the 
Creator's  will,  whenever  and  however  that  will 
should  be  proclaimed.  By  all  the  angels  in  heaven, 
who  remain  in  their  original  holiness,  and  delight 
still  to  do  their  Maker's  will,  it  is  fully  obeyed.  It 
was  communicated  to  man  at  his  creation,  requir- 
ing from  him,  this  simple  and  unquestioning  sub- 
mission to  God,  and  fixing  the  trial  of  his  obedience 
upon  a  single  and  comparatively  unimportant  pre- 
cept,— in  which  the  single  question  was,  would  he 


LECT.  XI.]   THE  GOSPEL  MAGNIFYING  THE  LAW.         377 

be  freely  and  entirely  obedient  to  God  7  It  was  re- 
vealed anew  to  the  Israelites  from  Mount  Sinai, 
bringing  out  again  this  single  principle,  branching 
out  in  many  additional  and  subordinate  precepts, 
some  of  which  were  wholly  national  and  local.  It 
was  renewed  and  confirmed  by  the  revelation  of 
God's  dear  Son,  who  established  its  authority  over 
his  Church  by  new  motives  of  gratitude  for  redemp- 
tion from  its  curse, — and  fulfilled  for  them  a  perfect 
and  justifying  obedience  to  its  commands.  Its  sin- 
gle principle  of  simple  and  entire  obedience  to  God 
is  as  binding  upon  every  soul  whom  he  hath  re- 
deemed, as  upon  those  who  stand  in  the  obedience 
which  they  render  for  themselves.  This  holy  law 
governs  throughout  the  universe,  and  must  govern 
forever.  There  can  be  no  intelligent  creature  ex- 
empted from  obedience  to  its  commands ;  nor  can 
its  authority  ever  be  annulled.  While  the  Creator 
reigns,  every  subject  of  his  dominion  must  be  held 
under  the  obligation  of  unconditional  obedience  to 
his  holy  and  perfect  will. 

So  soon  as  any  being  disobeys  this  law,  he  comes 
immediately  under  condemnation,  and  is  at  once  a 
lost  and  ruined  being.  He  is  subjected  to  immediate 
punishment  for  his  transgression,  and  is  at  once 
without  protection  and  without  hope.  His  guilt  has 
turned  God  against  him,  and  none  can  be  upon  his 
side.  Thus  it  was  with  angels  that  sinned.  Thus 
it  was  with  man  in  his  transgression.  And  thus  it 
is  with  every  man  now  bom  into  the  world.  None 
of  the  race  of  Adam  are  keepers  of  the  law,  and 
therefore  the  whole  family  of  his  posterity,  in  every 
generation,  have  come  under  the  curse,  and  are  in 
condemnation  under  the  law,  as  transgressors  against 


378  THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.       [lECT.  XI. 

God.  The  holiness  and  faithfulness  of  this  law 
cannot  be  set  aside  or  annulled.  It  demands  an 
obedience  and  satisfaction  completely  adequate  to 
its  own  character,  and  perfectly  spotless  and  unlim-_ 
ited  in  itself;  and  it  will  not  release  from  condemna- 
tion, any  transgressor  who  does  not  produce  them. 
If  no  such  obedience  and  satisfaction  can  be  pro- 
duced by  sinful  beings,  whether  angels  or  men,  no 
fallen  creature  can  be  restored  or  justified  by  any 
operation  or  power  of  the  law.  That  this  cannot 
be  done  by  such  beings,  becomes  indisputably  evi- 
dent ;  and  from  this  fact  flows  the  solemn  and  ever- 
lasting testimony,  "  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,  shall 
no  flesh  be  justified,  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge 
of  sin." 

This  is  the  view  which  we  have  taken  of  the  di- 
vine law.  It  is  not  the  law  of  Moses,  nor  the  law 
given  to  Adam  merely.  It  is  the  original,  the  divine 
will  of  God  however  revealed,  requiring  simple  un- 
qualified submission  in  every  creature,  under  ail  the 
circumstances  in  which  his  Creator  shall  see  fit  to 
place  him.  It  was  proclaimed  in  some  precepts  to 
Adam,  in  others  by  Moses,  and  in  others  still  by 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  So  far  as  it  is  revealed  and 
written  for  us,  it  is  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  are  given  by  inspiration  of  God.  But  it  may 
be  made  known  in  new  precepts  to  the  creatures  of 
God  throughout  eternity.  And  to  whatever  labour 
or  duty  God  shall  ever  direct,  this  universal  law 
will  require  from  every  creature,  instant  and  uncon- 
ditional obedience.  Neither  the  Gospel  then,  nor 
any  other  dispensation  from  God,  can  make  void  or 
annul  this  law,  because  whatever  is  revealed  or 
commanded  by  him,  becomes  from  that  moment,  a 


LECT.  X[.]       THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.  379 

part  of  his  law,  and  comes  to  man  with  the  same 
authority  which  has  proclaimed  and  established  all 
previous  revelations  of  the  divine  will.  They  can- 
not be  inconsistent  with  the  law,  because  God  can- 
not deny  himself.  He  is  always  the  same,  he 
changes  not,  nor  can  his  purposes  and  plans  ever 
contradict  or  thwart  each  other. 

2.  The  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  is  simply  a 
free  offer  of  actual,  finished  salvation,  to  man  under 
the  condemnation  of  the  law  which  he  has  broken. 
It  is  designed  as  a  remedy  for  existing,  actual  evil, 
and  was  intended  to  restore  the  transgressor  of  the 
law,  to  his  former  condition  of  security  and  peace, 
not  by  annulling,  but  by  fulfilling  the  law  for  him. 
It  makes  this  gracious  proposal  of  salvation  to  man, 
through  the  obedience  and  sufferings  of  a  divinely 
appointed  substitute  for  him.  It  is  the  annunci- 
ation of  a  Saviour  who  has  assumed  the  sinner's 
place,  and  rendered  for  him,  the  obedience  and  sat- 
isfaction which  the  divine  law  required.  It  is  not  a 
system  which  has  originated  from  another  being, 
than  the  one  who  gave  man  his  law,  and  which  was 
intended  in  its  operation  to  set  this  law  aside.  But 
it  is  one  which  has  flowed  from  the  Divine  Law- 
giver himself,  designed  to  restore  the  violated  maj- 
esty of  his  own  government,  and  to  provide  for  man, 
that  answer  to  the  law,  without  which  he  could 
never  be  rescued  from  condemnation  in  sin.  This 
intelligence  of  the  Gospel  was  first  revealed  to  man, 
immediately  after  his  transgression,  as  his  all-suffi- 
cient remedy.  It  proclaimed  to  him,  the  fact  of  a 
provided  salvation,  and  offered  this  salvation  to  him 
freely,  as  a  lost  and  helpless  creature.  But  it  did 
not  and  cannot  give  him  salvation  in  opposition  to 


380  THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.       [lECT.  XI. 

the  demands  of  the  law.  It  first  shews  the  law  sat- 
isfied, and  made  perfectly  whole  ;  and  then  it  freely 
justifies  and  completely  saves,  the  sinner  whom  the 
law  had  condemned,  There  is  here  no  opposition, 
but  a  perfect  unity  of  action,  and  cordial  mutual 
agreement.  "  What  tlie  law  could  not  do  in  that  it 
was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  his  own 
Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,"  did 
accomplish, — "  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law 
might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit."  If  a  creditor  should  imprison 
his  debtor  for  failure  in  payment  of  his  claim,  and 
another  individual  should  come  forward,  voluntarily 
to  discharge  the  debt,  and  set  the  prisoner  at  liberty, 
the  latter  could  not  be  said  on  this  ground,  to  be  op- 
posed to  the  former,  or  in  any  way  to  destroy  or 
disparage  the  legal  justice  of  the  claim  which  he 
thus  freely  meets  ;  but  both  would  unite  in  releasing 
the  man  whose  obligations  had  thus  been  completely 
and  honourably  discharged.  So  while  the  law  of 
God  held  man  in  bondage,  as  a  transgressor  of  its 
precepts,  and  the  Gospel  provides  and  proclaims  a 
full  discharge  of  the  penalty,  and  bids  the  ransomed 
soul  go  and  sin  no  more,  it  does  not  on  this  account 
shew  itself  opposed  to  the  justice  of  the  law's  de- 
mands. It  Jionours  the  holiness  of  the  law  by  pre- 
senting a  perfect  obedience  to  its  claims,  and  in  no 
degree  lessens  its  authority. 

The  same  Divine  Being  has  given  the  law  as  the 
rule  for  his  creatures,  and  the  Gospel  as  the  hope 
and  salvation  for  fallen  man.  In  both  these  dispen- 
sations, he  is  the  same,  and  there  is  in  him  no 
shadow  of  turning.  When  he  first  created  man,  he 
placed  him  under  his  law,  as  he  had  done  all  other 


LECT.    XI.]       THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.  381 

intelligent  beings  whom  he  had  formed.  When 
man  transgressed  the  law,  and  sinned  against  him, 
and  was  of  necessity  immediately  condemned  by 
the  law,  he  revealed  his  gracious  purpose  to  save 
him,  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  majesty  and 
holiness  of  the  law  which  he  had  violated.  He 
provided  and  offered  a  righteousness  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  God  manifest  in  flesh,  with 
which  he  was  well  pleased,  and  which  would  for- 
ever magnify  the  law,  and  make  it  honourable. 

II.  We  may  consider  the  direct  assertion  of  the 
text.  God  was  himself  well  pleased  with  the  right- 
eousness which  the  appointed  Saviour  finished,  and 
now  offers  in  the  Gospel.  This  righteousness  mag- 
nifies the  law  and  makes  it  honourable.  This  fact 
deserves  very  particular  attention.  In  preaching 
the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  are  sent  to 
offer  a  free  and  full  salvation,  to  those  whom  the 
law  condemns ;  and  that  salvation  wholly  in  Christ 
without  any  dependence  upon  human  works,  to  be 
obtained  simply  by  a  faith  in  his  word,  which  ac- 
cepts and  confides  in  the  work  of  merit  thus  re- 
vealed. In  such  an  offer  of  grace,  we  seem  to  many, 
to  set  the  law  entirely  aside.  We  declare  that  the 
law  cannot  justify  any  man ;  that  it  is  not  to  be 
obeyed  with  any  view  or  hope  of  obtaining  justifica- 
tion by  it;  that  men  must  not  lean  upon  it  in  the 
slightest  degree  for  this  purpose  ;  that  the  least  de- 
pendence placed  upon  their  obedience  to  it,  will  in- 
validate their  whole  interest  in  the  system  of  the 
Gospel.  In  these  assertions  we  are  supposed  by 
some,  to  give  instruction  of  an  unholy  tendency, 
and  to  teach  doctrines  which  are  subversive  of  moral 
obligations.     The  apostle  Paul  was  obliged  to  con- 


382  THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.       [lECT.  XI. 

tend  with  the  very  same  difficulties ;  his  doctrines 
were  obnoxious  to  the  very  same  reproach ;  and 
against  this  reproach,  he  was  compelled  to  vindi- 
cate the  Gospel  which  he  preached,  in  repeated  in- 
stances. 

But  let  us  consider  the  real  ground  which  we  oc- 
cupy in  this  matter.  The  law  requires  perfect 
obedience  to  all  its  commandments.  It  denounces  a 
curse  against  every  one  who  shall  violate  them  in 
the  smallest  degree.  But  it  is  undeniably  manifest, 
that  every  man  living  has  violated  them  in  ten  thou- 
sand instances,  and  is  consequently  obnoxious  to  all 
the  judgments  which  they  denounce.  And  yet  in 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we 
say  to  those  who  believe  in  him,  and  are  thus  walk- 
ing not  according  to  the  flesh,  but  according  to  the 
Spirit,  that  they  have  no  ground  for  fear,  for  there 
is  no  condemnation  to  those  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus, 
and  neither  the  law  in  its  punishment,  nor  sin  in  its 
power,  shall  have  dominion  over  them.  Now  do  we 
in  this  preaching,  set  aside  the  law,  and  act  or  teach, 
in  contradiction  to  its  established  and  unalterable 
principles  1  We  answer,  by  no  means ; — we  estab- 
lish, confirm,  and  honour  the  law  by  this  instruc- 
tion, to  the  utmost  possible  extent.  We  announce 
a  salvation  which  God  has  provided ;  in  which  he 
is  well  pleased ;  which  satisfies  every  legal  demand  ; 
makes  the  sinner  honourably  and  perfectly  secure ; 
— and  at  the  same  time  infinitely  glorifies  the  maj- 
esty and  character  of  God. 

1.  The  Gospel  honours  and  magnifies  the  law, 
by  the  voluntary  obedience  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  which 
it  announces.  The  law  would  have  been  hon- 
oured by  the  obedience  of  man,  had  he  continued 


LECT.  XI.]   THE  GOSPEL  MAGNIFYING  THE  LAW.        383 

upright,  as  it  is  honoured  by  the  obedience  of  the 
holy  angels  in  heaven.  In  the  universal  submis- 
sion to  God  which  is  there  displayed,  the  cheer- 
fulness with  which  all  unite  to  glorify  the  divine 
Creator,  and  the  love  and  communion  which  is 
maintained  among  themselves,  the  purity  and  glory 
of  the  divine  law  are  unceasingly  beheld.  Had 
man  remained  in  his  first  estate,  such  would  have 
been  the  character  of  the  earth ;  and  here,  in  all  the 
intercourse  of  men  with  each  other,  the  perfect  law 
of  God  would  have  been  the  controlling  authority, 
and  been  completely  and  continually  honoured.  This 
obedience  would  have  magnified  the  law  and  have 
displayed  its  excellence  and  worth.  But  the  vol- 
untary obedience  and  submission  of  God  the  Son  to 
its  commands,  has  magnified  it  far  more  highly. 
He,  over  whom  it  had  no  control,  and  whose  will 
constituted  the  law  itself,  yielded  himself  to  be  com- 
manded by  the  law,  for  those  who  were  under  its 
condemnation.  His  perfect  obedience  to  every  pre- 
cept is  the  righteousness  with  which  God  declares 
himself  well  pleased.  As  man,  he  fulfilled  every 
command.  From  his  childhood  to  his  death  he  was 
constituted  under  the  law.  He  thus  wrought  out  a 
spotless  righteousness,  by  which  the  majesty  of  the 
law  is  perfectly  sustained,  while  the  redeemed  sub- 
jects of  its  condemnation  are  released  and  set  at 
liberty.  How  can  the  law"  be  more  glorified,  or  set 
upon  higher  ground,  in  the  view  of  the  intelligent 
universe,  than  by  this  voluntary  humiliation  of  God 
himself?  With  what  peculiar  authority  and  reve- 
rence, must  it  have  pressed  itself  home  upon  the 
thrones  and  dominions,  and  principalities,  and  pow- 
ers in  heavenly  places,  when  they  beheld  such  regard 

16 


384  THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.        [lEC^.  XL 

paid  to  it  by  the  Creator  himself!  The  personal 
obedience  of  the  Lord  Jesus  honours  the  purity  and 
holiness  of  the  law,  in  its  undefiled  and  spotless 
character,  shewing  how  holy  is  that  rule,  in  obe- 
dience to  which  such  perfection  was  brought  out  by 
one  who  was  entirely  conformed  to  it ;  and  it  hon- 
ours the  majesty  and  authority  of  the  law,  as  it  is 
the  voluntary  submission  of  a  being  so  elevated  and 
so  glorious,  over  whom  the  law  could  have  had  no 
necessary  or  just  control.  And  the  Gospel  by  pro- 
claiming this  perfect  obedience,  magnifies  the  law, 
whose  excellence  and  authority  it  thus  acknowl- 
edges. 

2.  The  Gospel  magnifies  and  honours  the  law,  by 
its  proclamation  of  the  voluntary  sufferings  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  enduring  the  penalty  denounced 
against  transgression.  The  righteousness  whicii  the 
law  required  from  man,  was  not  only  a  righteous- 
ness of  obedience  to  its  precepts,  but  also  of  satis- 
faction for  transgressions.  Had  the  law  been  vio- 
lated, and  the  transgression  remained  unpunished, 
its  authority  would  have  been  wholly  overthrown ; 
and  instead  of  being  magnified  and  made  honour- 
able, it  would  have  been  dishonoured  and  despised. 
Had  all  the  transgressors  of  the  law  been  punished, 
it  would  have  been  honoured,  and  the  Creator  would 
have  been  displayed  as  a  Being  glorious  in  holiness 
and  justice.  But  it  is  far  more  highly  magnified, 
when  the  mighty  God  himself  consents  to  bear  its 
penalties,  rather  than  its  honour  should  be  compro- 
mised, or  its  authority  despised.  The  sufferings 
which  he  sustained,  were  a  satisfaction  to  the  vio- 
lated law.  They  were  the  penalty  which  the  just 
anger  of  God  must  inflict  upon  transgression.    They 


LECT.  XI.]        THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.  385 

must  be  regarded  as  the  same  sufferings  in  their  na- 
ture, which  unpardoned  sinners  must  endure  for 
themselves.  The  bodily  pain,  the  darkness  of  mind, 
and  the  violent  agony  in  death,  which  the  Lord  en- 
dured, were  certainly  the  penalty  which  the  law 
had  denounced  as  the  wages  of  sin  ;  though  the 
abiding  hatred  of  God,  and  the  unquenchable  de- 
spair, which  are  also  included  in  this  penalty,  as 
condemned  transgressors  endure  it,  were  not  found 
in  the  sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God.  But  the  infi- 
nite dignity  and  power  of  the  divine  Saviour  affixed 
a  worth,  and  gave  an  extent  and  depth  to  these  suf- 
ferings of  his,  which  made  them  an  ample  equiva- 
lent for  pardoned  men.  They  met  the  demands  of 
the  law.  They  made  it  whole  and  honourable,  and 
thus  opened  a  way  indispensable  for  the  salvation 
of  a  single  sinner,  and  sufficient  for  the  salvation  of 
all  sinners,  as  one  or  all  should  accept  the  offers  of 
his  salvation  and  be  made  partakers  of  his  redemp- 
tion. Thus  the  Lord  Jesus  magnified  and  honoured 
the  justice  and  fidelity  of  the  law,  in  submitting 
both  to  obey,  and  to  suffer  for  man,  under  its  holy 
requisitions.  And  the  Gospel  in  proclaiming  this 
twofold  righteousness  for  man,  magnifies  the  law 
from  which  it  releases  him. 

3.  The  Gospel  honours  the  law,  by  requiring  every 
dinner  upon  whom  it  bestows  a  pardon,  to  acknowl- 
edge his  giiiU  in  its  transgression,^  and  his  desert  of 
condemnation  under  its  sentence.  The  honour  which 
the  Lord  Jesus  gave  the  law,  is  but  a  part  of  that 
which  it  receives  from  the  dispensation  of  the  Gos- 
pel.  The  mercy  which  these  glad  tidings  announce 
to  man,  compels  every  one  who  receives  it,  to  con- 
fess the  justice  of  his  condemnation,  before  he  can 

17 


THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.         [lECT.  XL 

partake  of  the  gift  thus  presented.  The  sinner  who 
asks  for  pardon  must  confess  himself  a  sinner  deserv^- 
ing  to  perish.  He  must  not  only  declare  in  words, 
but  he  must  feel  deeply  in  his  conscience,  that  he 
deserves  to  be  cast  into  outer  darkness,  amidst  weep- 
ing and  gnashing  of  teeth  ;  and  that  God  would  be 
just  and  right,  in  avowing  that  he  has  no  pleasure 
in  him,  and  in  refusing  to  accept  or  aid  him.  He 
must  go  to  Christ,  as  one  who  feels  himself  exposed 
to  imminent  and  awful  danger,  and  cry  to  him  for 
mercy,  as  a  castaway  sinking  into  everlasting  de- 
struction. He  is  to  plead  nothing  for  himself,  but 
the  full  satisfaction  which  the  obedience  and  suffer- 
ings of  the  Lord  Jesus  have  made  to  the  demands 
of  the  law,  and  must  found  his  whole  hope  upon  the 
perfectly  sufficient  and  honourable  offering  which 
has  thus  been  made  for  him.  He  must  not  desire 
that  the  demands  of  the  law  should  be  lessened  or 
dishonoured,  even  for  his  salvation.  And  while  he 
feels  himself  condemned,  and  acknowledges  himself 
to  be  condemned,  he  must  still  proclaim  that  the 
commandment  which  destroys  him  is  holy,  just,  and 
good.  He  must  acknowledge,  that  without  a  right- 
eousness which  fully  answers  the  demands  of  the 
law,  he  cannot  be,  and  ought  not  to  be  accepted  be- 
fore God.  And  while  he  acknowledges  and  laments 
his  own  inability  ever  to  render  this  righteousness, 
he  must  plead  the  merit  of  his  Incarnate  God,  as  all 
his  salvation  and  all  his  desire.  Thus  in  the  very 
entrance  of  the  way  of  salvation  which  it  opens,  the 
Gospel  provides  for  the  honouring  and  magnifying 
of  the  law,  in  the  confessions  which  it  requires  the 
redeemed  sinner  to  make.  It  will  save  none  who 
do  not  feel,  and  who  will  not  confess,  this  guilt  and 


LECT.  XI.]       THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.  387 

danger  under  a  previous  just  condemnation.  There 
must  be  a  deep  humiliation  for  sin,  and  a  deep  con- 
viction of  his  lost  estate,  in  the  sinner's  mind,  before 
he  can  hope  for  pardon  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  ob- 
tain the  gracious  blessings  w^hich  the  Gospel  offers. 
Where  this  state  of  mind  is  found,  and  the  sinner 
comes  to  plead  the  obedience  of  his  divine  Redeemer 
in  his  behalf,  the  Lord  is  w^ell  pleased  for  his  right- 
eousness' sake,  and  the  law  is  magnified  and  made 
honourable.  -  No  precept  has  been  set  aside,  and  no 
other  principle  has  been  overturned.  The  sinner 
acknowledges  the  justice  of  God  in  his  condemna- 
tion, while  he  sues  for  the  exercise  of  mercy  in  his 
forgiveness.  God  is  consistent  with  himself,  in  hear- 
ing and  answering  the  penitent's  supplication, — and 
the  Gospel  which  proclaims  forgiveness  magnifies 
the  law  which  denounces  condemnation. 

4.  The  Gospel  honours  the  law  in  the  new  obe- 
dience through  which  it  leads  every  one  whom  it  has 
thus  pardoned  and  renewed.  It  allows  none  to  sin 
because  grace  abounds ;  but  while  it  forgives  all  who 
seek  for  pardon,  it  leads  them  as  the  result  of  their 
forgiveness,  to  serve  God  in  newness  of  life,  and  to 
walk  according  to  his  holy  will.  It  is  true,  the  man 
who  has  embraced  the  offers  of  pardon  does  not  ex- 
pect perfectly  to  obey  the  commands  of  God;  still 
less  does  he  expect  by  any  such  obedience  to  com- 
mend himself  to  the  favour  of  God.  But  he  has 
the  love  of  holiness,  and  the  desire  for  holiness  im- 
planted in  his  heart,  as  a  divine  gift.  He  approves 
of  the  precepts  of  the  law  in  his  inner  man.  He 
has  the  law  written  upon  his  heart  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  grace  of  God  which  has  brought 
him  salvation,  teaches  him  to  deny  ungodliness  and 


388  THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.       [lECT.  XL 

worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and 
godly,  in  this  present  world.  His  whole  effort  and 
object  in  regard  to  himself,  is  made  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  which  has  been  given  to  him,  the  desire  that 
he  may  perfect  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God,  and 
walk  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of 
the  Lord  blameless.  This  is  the  abiding  and  secure 
purpose  of  his  heart  and  hfe,  and  the  law  is  thus 
magnified  and  made  honourable  in  all  his  expe- 
rience and  in  all  his  character.  He  has  been  made 
free  from  guilt,  that  he  may  be  a  servant  to  holiness. 
He  has  been  delivered  by  the  grace  and  righteous- 
ness of  the  Gospel,  from  the  condemnation  of  the 
law,  that  he  may  obey  and  honour  this  very  law  in 
all  its  precepts,  in  a  new  and  eternally  holy  life. 
And  while  he  is  accepted  solely  for  the  righteous- 
ness' sake  of  God  his  Saviour,  and  glories  only  in 
him,  his  whole  life  is  an  unceasing  exertion  to  be 
holy  as  he  is  holy,  and  meet  to  be  a  partaker  of  his 
inheritance  with  his  saints. 

Under  these  four  aspects  of  the  work  of  the  Sav- 
iour for  the  sinner,  and  of  the  Spirit  in  the  sinner, 
we  see  how  perfectly  united,  are  these  two  holy  dis- 
pensations from  God,  and  how  completely  the  one 
has  established  and  honoured  the  other  previously 
revealed.  These  considerations  may  form  a  just 
conclusion  to  the  instructions  which,  under  the 
blessing  of  God,  I  have  attempted  to  give  you  upon 
the  great  subjects  of  divine  truth  which  have  been 
successively  brought  before  us.  The  importance  of 
these  views  cannot  be  overstated.  The  more  you 
study  the  communications  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
upon  these  subjects,  and  reflect  upon  their  instruc- 
tions, will  you  become  convinced  that  the  views 


LBCT.  XI.]       THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.  389 

which  have  been  thus  set  before  you,  are  the  reve- 
lations of  the  truth  of  God.  I  trust  you  will  also 
find  them  to  be,  more  deeply  and  permanently,  in- 
struments of  divine  power  in  your  own  souls. 

These  are  the  truths  which  the  apostles  preached 
in  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  casting  down  all 
man's  native  pride  and  wisdom,  and  exalting  the 
Lord  alone,  as  the  sinner's  righteousness  and  salva- 
tion. These  are  the  truths  for  which  the  venerable 
reformers  of  the  Church  in  the  sixteenth  century 
willingly  offered  their  lives  as  a  testimony  under  the 
cruelty  and  hatred  of  anti-christian  bigotry.  These 
blessed  truths  were  embodied  by  them,  in  all  the 
formularies  of  the  whole  Protestant  Church,  as  the 
doctrine  of  the  oracles  of  God.  In  every  land  in 
which  the  power  of  the  Reformation  was  felt,  this 
same  system  of  doctrine  was  simultaneously  drawn 
from  the  divine  word,  as  the  faith  of  God's  elect. 
These  are  the  truths  which  all  real  and  faithful 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  in  every  Christian  Church 
now  proclaim.  They  are  the  truths,  by  the  procla- 
mation of  which  alone,  the  Gospel  of  Christ  can 
triumpli  among  men,  and  sinners  be  saved  in  a  real 
conversion  to  God.  They  are  the  truths  which  our 
Church  teaches,  in  all  her  standards  of  doctrine, 
and  in  teaching  of  which  she  shews  her  peculiar 
worth  to  us,  and  the  honour  which  she  gives  to 
God.  These  are  the  truths,  by  which  alone,  and  a 
faithful  adhering  to  which,  we  are  to  stem  the  tor- 
rent of  popery  in  all  its  varying  shapes,  as  it  is  flow- 
ing down  upon  us  in  these  last  days.  Prize  them 
as  your  treasure.  Cling  to  them  as  your  hope. 
Proclaim  them  as  the  word  of  God.     And  may  God, 


390  THE    GOSPEL    MAGNIFYING    THE    LAW.         [lECT.    XL 

even  your  own  God,  cause  them  to  bring  forth  for 
you,  the  everlasting  fruits  of  holiness  and  peace. 
And  all  the  glory  be  to  the  Ever  Blessed  Trinity, 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  One 
God,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


LECTURE   XII. 

THE  GUILT  AND   DANGER  OF  REJECTING  THE  LAST  REV- 
ELATION FROM  GOD. 

He  that  despised  Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy  under  two  or  three  wit- 
nesses. Of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought 
worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God ;  and  hath  counted  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing ;  and 
hath  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  Grace  1 — Hebrews  x.  28,  29. 

No  principle  of  government  can  appear  more  just 
and  reasonable,  than  that  every  increase  of  privileges 
should  be  attended  with  a  corresponding  increase 
of  responsibility.  'From  those,  who  in  the  wise  ar- 
rangements of  the  divine  Providence,  have  been 
placed  in  a  state  of  comparative  ignorance  and  dark- 
ness, more  will  not  be  demanded  than  is  in  due  pro- 
portion to  their  means  of  information  and  improve- 
ment. God  will  undoubtedly  be  found,  to  make,  in 
his  final  dealings  with  mankind,  whatever  distinc- 
tions shall  be  proper  and  just,  between  the  heathen 
and  the  nominal  Christian, — between  the  idiot  and 
the  man  of  intelligence  and  reason, — and  between 
all  involuntary  ignorance,  and  despised  and  neglected 
means  of  knowledge.  This  just  principle  of  pro- 
portioned responsibility  is  repeatedly  acknowledged, 
and  dwelt  upon  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Our  Lord 
declares  that  the  men  of  Nineveh,  and  the  Queen 
of  the  South,  shall  rise  up  in  the  judgment,  for  the 
condemnation  of  those  who  had  listened  without  ef- 


392  DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THB    GOSPEL.       [lECT.  XII. 

feet,  to  the  invitations  of  the  Gospel  as  proclaimed 
by  him  ;  and  that  even  the  dreadful  punishment  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  should  be  found  more  tol- 
erable, than  that  of  those  who  rejected  his  gracious 
invitations  and  offers.  Upon  this  principle,  he  as- 
sures us,  that  "  to  whom  much  is  given,  from  them 
also  shall  much  be  required."  A  high  attainment 
of  holiness,  an  ardent  thankfulness  for  divine  bless- 
ings, and  an  eager  endeavour  to  do  the  will  of  God, 
must  be  expected  from  those  who  have  received  the 
amazing  privileges  of  the  Gospel.  And  a  fearful 
aggravation  of  guilt,  and  an  exposure  to  extreme 
danger  and  punishment  will  attend  a  continued  dis- 
regard of  the  truths  which  it  proclaims,  and  the  of- 
fers of  mercy  which  it  makes. 

The  application  of  this  important  principle   to 
ourselves  will  be  readily  perceived.     Our  privileges 
are  great  and  peculiar,  beyond  even  the  most  of 
those  to  whom  the  Gospel  has  been  preached.   The 
glory  of  divine  truth  shines  around  us.     The  provis- 
ions of  the  kingdom  of  grace  invite  our  universal 
participation.     No  one  of  those  who  have  listened 
even  to  the  discourses  which  I  am  now  concludinff 
can  be  necessarily  ignorant  of  the  way  of  life.     If 
in  the  case  of  any  one  in  such  circumstances,  trans 
gression  results  in  the  final  w^ages  which  are  threat- 
ened against  it,  the  condemnation  must  be  altogether 
wilful,  and  the  aggravation  of  the  guilt  will  fearfully 
increase  the  terror  of  its  recompense. 

This  principle  of  comparative  responsibility  is 
now  brought  before  your  view,  and  forms  an  appro- 
priate practical  conclusion  to  the  lectures  which  you 
have  heard.  The  text  presented  to  you,  assumes 
the  point,  that  it  is  the  same  Divine  Being,  who 


LECT.  XII.]       DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.  393 

speaks  both  in  the  Law  and  the  Gospel ;  and  that 
he  will  manifest  himself  in  each,  the  same  inflexibly 
holy  and  just  Being ;  and  that  so  far  from  mitigating 
the  strictness  and  purity  of  his  demands  upon  men, 
under  the  latter  dispensation,  he  will  visit  their  vol- 
untary disobedience  with  a  far  sorer  punishment. 
It  will  be  impossible  for  those  to  escape,  who  neg- 
lect so  great  salvation.  The  apostle  in  this  text  il- 
lustrates the  fearful  condition  of  those  who  reject 
the  Gospel,  by  a  comparison  of  it  with  the  condition 
of  men  under  the  law.  The  parts  of  this  compari- 
son, and  the  conclusion  which  he  derives  from  it,  it 
will  be  our  purpose  to  consider,  as  an  illustration  of 
the  guilt  and  danger  of  rejecting  the  Gospel. 

I.  "  He  that  despised  Moses'  law  died  without 
mercy  under  two  or  three  witnesses."  The  law  as 
revealed  by  Moses  contained  a  great  variety  of  pre- 
cepts, of  different  importance  and  influence.  Un- 
der its  provisions  some  transgressions  might  be  par- 
doned through  the  offering  of  an  appointed  sacrifice. 
For  others  the  prescribed  and  inevitable  punishment 
was  death.  If  a  soul  had  sinned  through  ignorance, 
or  inadvertence,  there  was  a  way  opened,  by  which 
the  evil  results  of  this  involuntary  deviation  might 
be  avoided.  But  if  a  man  wilfully  disobeyed  a 
high  and  important  moral  command,  there  was  no 
provided  means  of  expiation.  The  life  of  the  trans- 
gressor was  to  be  certainly  forfeited  to  the  violated 
majesty  of  the  law.  It  is  probably  with  particular 
reference  to  this  distinction,  that  the  apostle  em- 
ploys the  term  "despised."  There  was  a  pardon 
for  unintentional  transgressions.  But  no  contempt 
of  the  divine  authority,  no  wilful  disregard  of  a 
known  prohibition,  no  voluntary  rebellion  against 

17* 


394       DANGER  OP  REJECTING  THE  GOSPEL.   [lECT.  XII. 

the  majesty  of  the  lawgiver,  could  be  passed  over 
with  impunity.  For  such  offences  the  immediate 
retribution  was  death  without  mercy.  The  law  had 
been  given  in  the  clearest  and  most  positive  terms. 
It  could  not  be  misunderstood.  When  man  was  ac- 
cused of  its  intentional  violation,  the  plainest  evi- 
dence of  guilt  was  required.  By  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  two  or  three  eye-witnesses  at  the  least, 
every  word  must  be  established.  But  after  the  fact 
of  the  crime  was  thus  satisfactorily  and  clearly 
established,  there  w^as  no  remission ;  no  one  had 
authority  to  interfere  ;  none  could  sue  for  pardon,  or 
for  further  trial.  Such  a  man  had  despised  the  law, 
and  there  was  no  provision  for  mercy.  There  re- 
mained nothing  for  the  rulers  of  the  people,  but  the 
infliction  of  the  prescribed  punishment ;  and  nothing 
to  the  transgressor,  but  the  fearful .  expectation  of 
the  death  denounced.  The  hour  of  mercy  had 
passed.  The  criminal  must  be  dragged  even  from 
the  horns  of  the  altar,  to  his  merited  condemnation. 
The  hands  of  the  witnesses  must  be  first  upon  him, 
to  put  him  to  death.  The  high  authority  of  God 
had  been  despised,  and  the  despiser  must  perish 
w  ithout  mercy. 

II.  This  extreme  severity  of  punishment  is  em- 
ployed in  our  text  to  illustrate  the  far  higher  meas- 
ure of  indignation,  which  must  recompense  a  simi- 
lar contempt  of  the  Gospel  revelation.  The  law  of 
Moses  was  a  dispensation  of  vastly  inferior  privi- 
leges, and  with  far  more  limited  means  of  light  and 
knowledge  for  man.  And  in  the  same  proportion 
in  which  the  Gospel  has  enhanced  the  privileges  of 
mankind,  must  it  also  aggravate  the  guilt  and  the 
punishment  of  their  voluntary  disobedience  and  con- 


LECT.    XII.]       DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.  395 

tempt.  Accordingly  the  Holy  Spirit  demands  in 
the  text,  "  of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  suppose 
ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith  he  was  sanctified, 
an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the 
Spirit  of  grace  7"  It  will  be  allowed  that  such  ex- 
pressions describe  an  extreme  degree  of  human 
guilt.  But  to  whom  can  they  with  justice  be  ap- 
plied 1  Are  these  the  acts  and  attributes  of  men, 
who  were  known  only  during  the  short  period  of  the 
apostolic  ministry,  and  who  have  had  no  successors 
since,  around  the  Christian  Church  7  Or  are  they 
the  practical  characteristics  of  many  wuth  whom  we 
now  associate  7  How  extensively  this  description 
applies  to  different  classes  of  mankind,  it  is  proper 
to  consider. 

1.  There  is  manifestly  here,  a  description  of  those 
who  have  become  apostates  from  a  religious  profes- 
sion, and  of  those  who  have  voluntarily  driven  away 
from  them,  serious  impressions  of  truth  by  a  subse- 
quent course  of  unbelief  and  sin.  The  apostle  con- 
nects it  with  those  who  "  draw  back  unto  perdition." 
Though  once  awakened  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  see, 
to  acknowledge,  and  to  follow  after,  the  excellence 
and  the  promises  of  true  piety,  they  returned  again 
to  their  former  pleasures  and  sins, — they  "  walked 
in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly,  and  stood  in  the  way 
of  sinners,  and  sat  down  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful," 
and  thus  denied  the  faith,  and  brought  upon  them- 
selves a  swift  destruction.  To  all  such  persons,  the 
solemn  demand  of  the  text  is  applicable,  to  the  end 
of  time.  It  should  awaken  them  to  the  danger  of 
resisting   the   convictions  of  the   Holy  Spirit.     It 


396       DANGER  OP  REJECTING  THE  GOSPEL.   [lECT.  XH. 

should  arouse  them  to  consider  the  alarming  diffi- 
culty of  their  ever  regaining  any  spiritual  benefit, 
when  they  have  thus  deliberately  torn  themselves 
loose  from  the  merciful  entreaties  of  the  Son  of  God. 
It  is  not  that  any  sins  of  men  are  in  their  actual 
guilt  beyond  the  reach  of  divine  forgiveness.  But 
it  is,  that  the  very  nature  and  necessary  tendency  of 
a  backsliding  spirit,  is  so  to  harden  the  heart,  and  to 
sear  the  conscience,  that  no  means  are  found  ade- 
quate to  rouse  its  victims  from  their  apathy,  and  to 
bring  them  again  humbly  to  seek  for  mercy  at  a  Sav- 
iour's feet.  Rarely  can  they  be  renewed  to  repent- 
ance. Their  course  of  sin,  though  possibly  under 
the  influence  of  a  strong  temptation,  has  been  a  vol- 
untary and  deliberate  course.  Having  willingly  re- 
jected the  one  great  only  sacrifice  for  human  sin, 
there  remaineth  no  other  sacrifice,  but  the  certain, 
fearful  expectation  of  judgment  and  fiery  indigna- 
tion which  shall  devour  the  adversaries. 

2.  The  solemn  description  of  the  text  must  be 
applied  to  those  who  are  avowedly  unbelievers  in 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel.  Such  persons  are  gene- 
rally disposed  to  claim  peculiar  indulgence,  by  the 
allegation,  that  their  faith  is  not  within  their  own 
power.  But  is  this  true  1  If  the  infidelity  of  man 
amidst  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel  were  wholly  an 
error  in  the  judgment,  and  it  could  be  proved  that 
the  man  had  used  all  the  means  of  information  and 
knowledge  within  his  reach,  without  effect,  there 
might  be  possible  room  for  the  urging  a  plea  like 
this.  But  the  fault  with  men  in  such  circum- 
stances, is  not  in  the  head,  but  in  the  heart.  The 
carnal  mind  hates  the  humiliation,  and  the  purity, 
which  the  Gospel  requires,  and  the  wrath  which  it 


LECT.  XII.]       DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.  397 

denounces  against  the  darling  sins  of  men.  And 
when  conscience  enlightened  by  the  truth  of  God, 
checks  the  commission  of  sin  by  the  threatenings 
of  the  divine  word, — to  soothe  and  still  this  unquiet 
monitor,  man  will  rush  into  the  boldness  of  unbelief 
He  will  proclaim  the  falsehood  of  a  book,  of  which 
he  knows  notliiag.  He  will  retail  the  impiety  and 
sophistry  which  other  opposers  have  handed  down 
to  him.  And  in  the  ardour  of  his  hostility,  will 
imagine  himself  actually  overturning  the  founda- 
tions of  that  truth  which  God's  own  Son  hath  re- 
vealed to  men.  But  whence  arises  this  zeal  for 
propagation?  Is  not  its  source  in  that  corrupted 
heart  alone,  which  would  tread  under  foot  the  au- 
thority of  God  1  Mere  mental  doubt  or  hesitation 
would  be  quiet,  and  rather  be  disposed  to  envy,  than 
desire  to  overturn,  the  confidence  and  comfort  of  be- 
lievers in  the  Gospel.  But  the  spirit  of  unbelief  is 
hateful  and  hating  others.  If  you  should  separate 
from  the  Gospel,  its  sacred  laws  of  conduct,  and  re- 
move* its  humbling  doctrines,  and  its  solemn  warn- 
ings to  the  guilty,  and  leave  its  professors  to  indulge 
the  appetites  of  corrupt  nature,  and  still  to  look  for 
impunity  and  peace,  all  the  opposition  of  infidelity 
would  be  removed.  O,  how  fearfully  does  the  de- 
scription of  the  text  apply  to  such  !  They  are  thus 
warring  with  the  best  interests  of  man,  and  pour- 
ing contempt  upon  the  authority  of  God.  And  what 
can  be  the  result  of  their  impiety,  but  death  without 
mercy,  and  that  eternal  7 

3.  But  the  text  must  have  a  broader  application 
than  to  these  two  classes  of  despisers.  It  actually 
describes  the  course  of  every  heedless  and  ungrate- 
ful transgressor  against  God,  under  the  abundant 


398  DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.       [lECT.  XII. 

privileges  of  the  Gospel.  To  every  man,  whose 
proud  and  guilty  heart  rejects  the  power  and  love 
of  an  offended  Saviour,  do  its  alarming  characteris- 
tics apply.  He  is  treading  under  foot  the  Son  of 
God,  and  counting  the  blood  of  the  covenant  where- 
with he  was  sanctified  an  unholy  thing,  and  doing 
despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace.  Among  those  to 
whom  the  Gospel  has  been  faithfully  proclaimed,  a 
rejection  of  its  spiritual,  renewing  influence  cannot 
be  a  sin  of  ignorance.  The  disobedience  and  heed- 
lessness of  a  worldly  mind  is  in  such  circumstances 
persisted  in,  against  all  the  means  of  light  and 
knowledge  which  men  can  have.  The  continuance 
of  an  unpardoned  and  unconverted  state  is  therefore 
always  the  certain  evidence  of  a  voluntary  rejection 
and  contempt  of  God's  abounding  grace.  The  Gos- 
pel has  established  one  plain  and  simple  distinction, 
between  those  who  gather  with  Christ,  and  those 
who  scatter  abroad,  in  opposition  to  his  gathering. 
To  this  latter  class,  w^ithout  reference  to  any  minor 
diflferences  of  character,  the  solemn  description  of 
our  text  is  justly  and  wholly  applicable.  Their  re- 
jection of  the  Gospel  in  its  invitations  and  offers  of 
mercy,  goes  to  the  utmost  extent  of  which  they  are 
capable,  in  rebellion  and  ingratitude  against  the 
Saviour  of  men  from  whom  its  privileges  come,  and 
by  whose  sufferings  and  death,  they  have  been  pur- 
chased. 

"  They  have  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God." 
God  has  been  pleased  to  send  his  own  Son,  as  the 
personal  substitute  and  offering  for  guilty  man.  But 
glorious  and  exalted  as  this  Almighty  Being  was 
amidst  the  heavenly  host  who  worshipped  before 
him,  by  guilty  men  for  whom  he  came,  his  authority 


LBCT.  XII.]       DANGEE    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.  399 

and  love  have  been  treated  with  disregard  and  con- 
tempt. In  all  ages,  the  greater  portion  of  those  who 
have  heard  his  word,  have  refused  the  benefits  of  his 
gracious  interposition,  and  rejected  his  messages  of 
kindness  with  the  most  rebellious  and  fatal  indig- 
nity. In  their  actual  personal  intercourse  with  him, 
the  generation  of  men  to  whom  he  was  first  offered 
crucified  the  Lord  of  Glory  ;  and  every  sinner  who 
has  since  rejected  the  pardoning  and  transforming 
power  of  the  Gospel,  remaining  impenitent  under  its 
merciful  invitations  and  warnings,  has  crucified  the 
Son  of  God  afresh, — set  his  seal,  and  given  his  ap- 
probation, to  the  stand  which  they  assumed, — and 
thus  in  deliberate  contempt  trodden  him  under  his 
feet.  He  has  gone  to  the  utmost  extent  which  his 
circumstances  would  allow,  in  taking  part  with  those 
who  hated  him.  And  upon  the  just  principle  of  our 
text,  that  comparative  privilege  is  the  proper  meas- 
ure of  comparative  responsibility,  they  who  now  as- 
sume this  ground,  justifying  and  following  out  the 
first  rejection  of  the  Lord  of  life,  are  far  more  guihy, 
and  deserving  a  far  more  dreadful  punishment,  than 
the  generation  who  actually  stained  their  hands  with 
his  blood.  To  you,  the  Son  of  God  comes  anew,  in 
every  invitation  of  his  Gospel.  "  He  that  receiveth 
you,"  said  he  of  the  ministers  of  his  word,  "  receiv- 
eth me,  and  he  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me." 
His  own  divine  authority  is  connected  with  the  sol- 
emn messages  which  you  hear.  When  you  receive 
these  messages  of  mercy,  you  receive  him  personally, 
you  accept  him  as  your  Lord,  and  he  dwells  within 
you,  as  your  hope  of  glory.  When  you  reject  his 
word,  it  is  his  personal  worth  which  is  despised, — 
and  his  authority  which  is  the  object  of  your  disre- 


400  DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.       [lECT.    XII. 

gard.  This  is  not  the  fact  in  a  remote  and  secon- 
dary degree  merely,  as  the  contempt  of  earthly  am- 
bassadors insults  the  authority  by  which  they  are 
commissioned.  For  the  very  blessing  we  are  sent 
to  ofTer,  is  Christ  himself;  a  personal  interest  for 
you  in  the  atonement  and  righteousness  of  the  in- 
carnate Jehovah.  The  thing  therefore  which  you 
reject,  is  Christ  himself  And  this  rejection,  per- 
fectly voluntary  and  deliberate,  flowing  only  from 
a  disregard  of  Christ  himself,  and  resulting  in  a  con- 
tempt of  him,  is  declared  to  be  a  treading  of  him 
under  foot.  All  that  you  can  do  in  the  spirit  of  hos- 
tility against  him  is  thus  done.  The  army  of  the 
aliens,  the  hosts  of  rebellion  and  unbelief  claim 
you,  as  acting  with  them  to  the  utmost  of  your  in- 
fluence to  promote  their  dominion,  and  to  overthrow 
the  kingdom  of  Christ.  And  the  Saviour  mourns 
over  you,  as  shutting  yourselves  out  of  eternal  life, 
— and  as  scattering  to  the  utmost  of  your  power, 
what  he  gathers. 

But  it  is  not  merely  in  the  character  of  a  Creator 
and  Ruler,  that  you  tread  the  Son  of  God  under 
your  feet.  You  "  count  the  blood  of  the  covenant 
wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing."  He 
comes  to  you  as  a  Redeemer,  suffering  in  your  be- 
half, clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,  bearing 
your  iniquities,  and  enduring  the  chastisement  of 
your  peace,  and  making  his  soul  an  offering  for  your 
sin.  It  was  thus  to  heal  you  by  his  stripes,  accord- 
ing to  the  everlasting  covenant  with  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  which  gave  him  as  a  Saviour  to  a 
lost  world,  that  he  died  for  sinners.  By  the  shed- 
ding of  his  blood,  he  was  sanctified,  acknowledged 
and  accepted,  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  work 


LECT.    XII.]       DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.  401 

of  mercy.  And  by  rejecting  his  offer  of  divine 
atonement,  and  refusing  the  exercise  of  its  cleansing 
and  pardoning  power  upon  yourselves,  you  treat  it 
as  an  unholy  and  worthless  thing.  You  proclaim  it 
to  be  unnecessary  and  useless,  and  thus  despise  him 
though  standing  in  the  very  attitude  of  gracious  en- 
treaty, and  distinguished  by  the  most  affecting  testi- 
monials of  divine  compassion. 

How  affecting  and  painful  is  this  view  of  human 
guilt!  How  awakening  ought  it  to  be,  to  the  con- 
sciences and  affections  of  sinful  men  '?  The  Saviour 
stands  in  the  sinner's  path  to  ruin.  He  stops  him  in 
his  madness.  He  extends  his  arms  to  him,  beseech- 
ing him  to  stay.  He  points  him  to  the  wounds 
which  have  bled  for  him,  and  entreats  and  pleads 
with  him  to  turn  and  live.  The  ungrateful  man 
looks  upoa  him  with  anger,  or  with  unconcern.  He 
still  entreats  him  :  ''  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will 
ye  die  ]"  The  infatuated  rebel  thrusts  him  from  his 
hold,  treads  under  foot,  all  his  oflers  and  love, — 
scorns  the  sorrows  which  are  thus  inflicted  on  him 
afresh, — and  hardly  looking  at  him,  or  thinking  of 
him  again,  presses  onward  in  his  chosen  path  to 
death.  Thus  have  many  of  you  done,  again  and 
again.  And  yet  the  gracious  Lord  has  not  forsaken 
you.  Through  all  the  changes  of  life,  his  voice  still 
calls  upon  you ;  and  when  at  last,  you  are  sinking 
into  eternity,  unpardoned  and  without  hope,  the  ac- 
cents of  his  pity  still  echo  in  your  ears,  as  the  mel- 
anch61y  evidence  of  his  despised  love,  and  of  your 
increased  and  fearful  guilt.  "O  that  thou  hadst 
known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things 
which  belong  unto  thy  peace  !  but  now  they  are  hid 
from  thine  eyes." 


402        DANGER  OF  REJECTING  THE  GOSPEL.   [lECT.  XII. 

But  this  rejection  of  the  Saviour  is  not  all.  "  They 
have  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  Grace."  The 
whole  Adorable  Trinity  is  despised  and  rejected  by 
the  unconverted  soul.  By  the  operations  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  sinners  are  drawn  to  submit  themselves 
to  the  righteousness  and  dominion  of  the  Son  of 
God.  All  who  are  the  children  of  God  by  their 
union  with  Christ,  have  been  made  partakers  of  this 
blessed  liberty,  by  the  same  Divine  Spirit.  And 
they  who  remain  in  their  condition  of  carelessness 
and  sin,  are  resisting  and  despising  the  gracious  in- 
fluence by  which  he  operates  upon  the  hearts  of 
men.  The  Holy  Scriptures  represent  this  resist- 
ance to  the  Spirit  by  different  terms  of  progressive 
strength.  He  is  quenched^  when  in  the  first  awaken- 
ings of  conviction  upon  the  conscience,  he  arouses 
the  sinner  from  his  folly.  He  is  grieved^  when  still 
putting  forth  his  power  with  unavailing  affection,  to 
draw  the  sinner  with  cords  of  love,  he  is  driven 
from  him  with  unconcern.  He  is  despised^  when 
still  unwilling  to  cease  his  strivings  with  men,  he 
makes  his  solemn  appeals  to  their  conscience,  with 
the  fears  of  woe, — and  to  their  affections,  with  the 
exhibitions  of  divine  compassion,  and  yet  is  obsti- 
nately opposed,  and  finally  compelled  to  leave  the 
sinner,  to  follow  out  his  own  devices,  and  to  eat  of 
the  fruit  of  his  own  ways.  Through  this  process 
of  increasing  opposition  to  his  power,  many  who 
listen  to  me  have  already  passed,  quenching,  griev- 
ing, despising  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  ;  until  perhaps 
he  has  left  them  to  their  own  folly,  and  withdrawn 
the  hope,  and  the  offers  of  mercy  from  their  souls 
forever. 

To  set  before  you  the  full  course  of  wickedness 


LECT.  XII.]       DANGER    OF    REJECTING    THE    GOSPEL.  403 

you  have  thus  run,  and  the  guilt  and  dangers  which 
you  have  thus  assumed,  I  must  be  able  to  open  the 
register  of  heaven,  and  to  give  you  the  knowledge 
of  yourselves  which  belongs  to  God  alone.  There 
you  would  see  the  early  fears  and  warnings  which 
were  spread  before  your  youthful  hearts ;  the  many 
awakened  determinations  to  a  renewal  of  life,  which 
marked  your  maturing  years ;  the  solemn  convictions 
of  truth  with  which  the  messages  of  the  Gospel 
have  been  often  impressed  upon  your  minds  ;  the 
tears  of  sorrow  for  manifest  sin,  which  have  marked 
your  cheeks  ;  the  desires  of  deliverance  from  the 
burden  of  sin  which  have  agitated  your  bosom ;  the 
thousand  times  in  which  you  have  acknowledged  to 
yourselves,  that  it  was  high  time  to  seek  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  his  righteousness,  and  to  have  se- 
cured to  your  possession,  some  good  part  which 
should  not  be  taken  away  from  you.  All  these,  and 
many  other  occasions  and  instruments,  would  be  to 
you  the  evidence,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  had  been 
long  striving  with  you  with  the  utmost  tenderness 
and  patience.  And  why  then,  are  you  still  unpar- 
doned and  without  God  in  the  world  ?  Simply  be- 
cause you  have  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace. 
You  have  despised  the  riches  of  his  long-suflering, 
not  willing  that  the  goodness  of  God  should  lead 
you  to  repentance.  These  unsearchable  riches  of 
grace  all  testify  against  you.  'The  Father's  love, 
the  Son's  redemption,  the  Spirit's  power,  have  all 
been  equally  in  vain,  and  wholly  in  vain,  for  any 
spiritual  benefit  to  you.  And  though  you  are  ruined 
forever  by  this  course  of  folly, — your  ruin  is  but  the 
measure  of  your  guilt. 

III.  How  solemn  and  awakening,  is  the  appeal 


404        DANGER  OF  REJECTING  THE  GOSPEL.   [lECT.  XII, 

which  the  text  makes  to  you  1  "  Of  how  much 
sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought 
worthy?"  The  Almighty  Jehovah  appeals  to  your 
own  decision  in  this  fearful  crisis.  What  higher 
guilt  can  attach  itself  to  man,  than  is  here  described  ] 
"  Death  without  mercy"  recompensed  the  rejection 
and  contempt  of  far  lower  means  of  light  and 
knowledge.  Is  there  any  sorer  punishment  than 
death  without  mercy  1  None,  save  in  that  unchang- 
ing woe,  where  men  desire  to  die,  and  death  flees 
far  from  them.  And  what  character  or  conduct  in 
man  shall  be  thought  worthy  of  this  dreadful  retri- 
bution, if  this  rejection  of  God's  own  Son  be  not? 
Your  single  violations  of  moral  precepts  are  but 
atoms,  to  this  globe  of  iniquity  which  is  thus  heaped 
upon  your  souls.  The  sin  of  scornful  unbelief  puts 
all  other  sins  in  an  eclipse.  They  are  not  counted  in 
its  presence.  "  This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light 
has  come  into  the  world,  and  men  have  loved  dark- 
ness rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil." 
This  has  cast  the  talent  of  lead  upon  the  ephah  of 
wickedness.  This  has  stopped  every  mouth,  and 
counted  every  unconverted  soul  guilty  before  God. 
''  See  then  that  ye  refuse  not  him  that  speaketh. 
For  if  they  escaped  not  who  refused  him  that  spake 
on  earth,  much  more  shall  not  we  escape,  if  we 
turn  away  from  him  that  speaketh  from  heaven." 


THE   END. 


of  THB 

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